The following Q & A's come
from the archives of the Award -Winning Licking Sugar Addiction
Management Discussion Group. Here you will learn through mentored online
discussion how to manage sugar & related addictions including alcohol
& nicotine, it's many physical & emotional issues, reactive
hypoglycemia, compulsive & emotional eating. Become familiar with high
level nutrition, the importance of family & personal medical history
in relation to food planning, emotional management & the applications
of medical self-hypnosis.

The group is moderated by Elizabeth Bohorquez RN,
Lifestyle Change Educator & Medical Hypnotherapist, President &
Program Designer for Sarasota Medical & Sports Hypnosis Institute,
specializing in sugar addiction & the food-mood connection for over 25
years. Author of Sugar...the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It
& +350 audio programs for optimum mindbody health & performance.
This group has been in process for over two years, has extensive archives,
two corresponding 800 page websites, ezine, abundant educational materials
& free online classes every week. Whether you are looking to stop
yo-yo weight gain, cravings, other physical symptoms of hyperinsulinemia
including poor concentration & memory, anxiety, panic, headaches,
dizziness, fatigue & general un-wellness, this group will be helpful
to you. The information posted & shared is not intended to
represent or replace medical treatment. Any & all
lifestyle changes should be reviewed with your your M.D.

Moving into action is the most difficult part of
achieving anything. We are usually great at procrastinating, as well as starting
and stopping. I tend to think the latter is a bigger problem than not starting
at all. Part of the reason for that is that we want immediate gratification. In
actuality, with sugar addiction problems, we can have this gratification if we
know how to look for it. For this to happen we need to know how to read our body
communications. My clients and students spend much time on this part of our work
because it is basic to improving the total functioning of the mind and
body.

For our purposes here, and as a beginning just
begin to notice your body sensations before you eat or drink something, and then
check in about
30 minutes to an hour after you eat or drink. Begin to notice the difference
between the two. Now test it with something else, especially something with a
large sugar content. You might like to check my body communications after a few
hours. Are you hungry? Do you have any aches or pains? How is your mind
function? Are you thinking clearly? Are your thoughts speeding through your mind
or is your level of concentration good? The more you build the power of inner
awareness, the better you will become at managing sugar-addiction, as well as
the workings of your mind and body. Licking
Sugar Addiction Discussion
Group InformationQuestion
Organizer
Review Actual Chapters - Sugar...The
Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It - Now in EBOOK PDF

Sugar-addiction gives us wonderful opportunities
for getting to know ourselves on many different levels. I have been in recovery
from this addiction for over ten years and I still am amazed at how the old
programs play out in my mind. The holidays are great times to observe
some of the "acting" of particular problematic emotional states. It
helps us to name them. I teach my clients and students to see them as
"children" wearing tee shirts with their names on their chest. Some
are bigger than others, and often more problematic. Some are problems on one
day and not on another. Others may only show themselves during stress, parties,
around particular individuals, or sometimes only when you are alone. I have
some in each category, as do most of us. Awareness allows us to view these
"children" and imagery or interactive self-hypnosis allows us to
diminish those that are not "helpful" and to enhance those that are.
I will be writing more about emotional management in the future, and I hope
that you will share some of your
experiences as well.

Working with sugar addiction is a moment to
moment thing. Just when we think we are getting good at this, up comes a
challenge of sorts. I hope we will discuss challenges in these communications.
I'll start. It is very important to make certain we have the foods available
that
we need, and also a variety of these foods so we don't get bored. Remember,
this is a lifestyle change. Last night I didn't feel like preparing any special
vegetables for lunch today. I was making lots of excuses including, "I'm
too tired, I'm sick of this, Why me, Why can't I just go out for lunch for a
change, etc. etc. etc."

The truth of the matter is that the vegetables
were in the refrigerator and I was just not "willing" to care for
myself. And so, noticing this emotional
state, just as if it were a child wearing a tee shirt with it's name on the
front, and noticing it was interfering with my progress as having
"recovered from sugar addiction" I very gently showed it some
"inner pictures" of what happens when "we don't" and
another set of "what happens when we do". After that, it was quite
simple. The vegetables were prepared and as a matter of fact, I just finished
enjoying them and sent some gratefulness to my emotional states for helping me
to explore my challenges and stay well.

Sugar Addiction plays out in our mind and body
in many different ways. It is very connected to emotional management, including
anxiety, panic disorder, depression and a host of others. To understand why
this is so we do have to become educated in the workings of food & beverage
and relationships of family & personal medical history. We also must look
at our lifestyle habits from the beginning. Sometimes we don't like to look. We
tend to cover these memories, or paste excuses over them. "Oh, I was
young, etc. etc. etc." In our attempt to be educated we must look, see the
reality of what we did to ourselves, and then commit to change. All food and
beverage acts like chemicals or drugs in the body, and depending on our past
lifestyle behaviors, will alter
emotional responses. Some people can actually experience a feeling of being
high or drunk from food and non-alcoholic beverage. As we begin to agree to see
"our state of affairs" we can begin to make responsible choices. On a
good note, as we recover the mind and body will assist
us in staying "clean." We find that we want less of the offending
foods. One of the beverages I had a real issue with was diet soda. I really
didn't even know how much of it I was drinking. Sipping it through the day is
even worse than chugging a can. Sipping keeps the insulin levels up
continually, and therefore increasing stress chemical production, and depleting
brain neurotransmitters that are connected to depression, anxiety and a host of
other chemical emotional states. I look forward to you all sharing in this
circle. Please be sure to post
directly or to answer anything I may send, even if the subject matter is
different. The more we learn the better we become.

Within the last 24 hours I had two phone calls
from people who want to be hypnotized to stop eating. To me this is very sad
indeed. Sometimes a difficult part of my work is teaching people how not to be
afraid of food. They have spent so many years trying to lose weight by
starvation & it is very frightening to eat as much as one needs to actually
burn fat. When exercising we need even more food than when not exercising.
Often times people find themselves at a plateau when increasing exercise &
can't understand what is wrong. They may also find their hunger increasing
& that is "inconvenient" when trying to cut back on food.
Learning to eat meals again was a big one for me. I was a grazer and never
seemed to have much hunger at meal time. Or, I was starving and found that
after eating crackers or bread I had little
hunger left. Then I ended up being hungry in an hour or so, and often a bit
shaky as well. Of course I now know that was hyperinsulinemia. Becoming
disciplined in my eating behaviors was a real challenge, and does still
continue, but thankfully it is so much better than before. I hope you are all
well and paying attention to the needs of your body.

I'd love to hear from all of you about how you
stay motivated to manage sugar addiction. Someone asked me today if there was
"something" I did on a daily basis to help myself stay motivated. I'm
still smiling inwardly at that question.....of course there is
"something." As we
build a life of discipline there are many things we do everyday and some more
than once! People are often surprised to hear that from me. They think because
I work in this field that I shouldn't have any problems. That is totally
unrealistic. First of all, I have the body chemistry for sugar addiction plus
the fact that for over half of my life I ate in such a way as to increase my
addiction, instead of diminishing it. As I remember my days of being out of
control and
binging, I am rather flabbergasted at what I unknowingly did. I should bend down
and kiss the ground that I am still here to talk about it.

Staying motivated is part of the job & is actually fun. I love knowing what
I need to eat and I like providing it to myself. I do have to work at being
"food organized" and on occasion I do slip up, but over the years I
basically know what I need for the week from the supermarket & any other
store I need to visit to get what I need. I work on my shopping list ongoing,
and especially if I see something during the week that especially appeals to
me. I would have to say
that I take much better care of myself now than I ever did... Now, do I
always want to do all of this? Of course not. Some days I really don't want to
cook or plan or any of the other things. This morning I got up a bit earlier
& roasted some pork as I ate breakfast and showered. This way it is ready
for dinner. I could of done it last night, but other things prevailed. I have
found over the years that I need to build lots of variety into my meals. If
not, I tend to go back to old behaviors of 1) never knowing what is for dinner,
and then asking myself the fatal question 2) what do you feel like having? Some
of those answers still knock my socks off! Lets share some motivational ideas
with each other. As we all begin to communicate, we will all gain so
much...knowledge that is!

It is normal to have a slip-up. We all know what
those are don't we? I'd love to know how you deal with yours.... As we begin to
share are management skills we will all gain. We are all students and teachers
at the same time. People are often surprised when I tell them that I
also experience slip-ups and why shouldn't I? I'm as normal as everyone else!
Forgiveness for not being perfect is very important. In years gone by I really
hated the part of me that wasn't perfect, and it was quite a large part believe
me. Not only was I large, but the part was equally so. Now that I work with
emotional management tools, I feel compassion for that part of me, and in
so doing over the years I have been able to diminish it quite a bit.

One of the images I utilize with that part of me is a "mind-book." On
the right hand side are pictures of what we are getting and going to get by
eating correctly for our body physiology. Those pictures include immediate
gratification, short term and long term goals. The pictures
are vivid, beautiful and very specific. We can also go right into the pictures
and feel what it feels like to have the very thing right then and there. This
is positive motivation and future-pacing. I may choose to show that part of me
images of how things used to be, and
future pace some negative outcomes. I try not to utilize those too often
because I don't want to reinforce those images in my mind. However, if part of
my emotional self is really out of control, it is right over to those x rated
pictures for a bit!

I am managing to control it more often but
I will crave the refined foods and indulge. And without fail, I will induce a
depressive state with energy depletion. My goal is to cleanse myself of most of
the refined foods and stay as close to natural foods as possible. A challenge
is to surpass the craving of the junk. However, I am making strides. This
evening, I wanted to buy some chips or something like that.

But when I got to the store, my body was
remembering the fluid retention feeling that it gets when I eat it. And I did
not buy it. As a matter of fact I couldn't thing of anything, looking at it in
front of me, that I wanted. I considered that to be progress.
I did melt some white chocolate chips tonight and eat that. I have been doing
really well avoiding chocolate. Even Valentine's Day, I did jelly beans
instead. I know the sugar content is still high, but it was still an
improvement, I felt. So, any suggestions are welcomed! I thought I'd start
posting in hopes that others would follow suit. I'm here to learn and to find
support through change.

The thing I like about the eGroup format is that
people can come and reach the archives by subject. The more we share, the
better for everyone. As I might have mentioned somewhere along the line, we are
all students and teachers at the same time. I really enjoyed the above
"snip." Noticing your body remembering is a very valuable
"happening." We all have a
lot of these inner files, and if we become more aware, as you were in this
moment, we will make better progress.

Eliz Comments: As you probably know I am very sugar-addicted, and through the years have
learned to cope with it. As a matter of fact, I am somewhat grateful for it.
The reason for this is that the "actual managing moments" have
assisted me in attaining a higher level of inner growth than I would have
experienced without it. When we find ourselves in one of these "actual
managing moments" take full advantage. The recognition of "the
moment" is called heightened
awareness. You can program your mind to find more of these for you. Simply
allow yourself to deeply relax. Place your fingertips on your lower abdomen and
allow it to fill with air, just a balloon. Watch your fingertips go up and
down... This slows the brain waves and takes you closer to the subconscious
programming level of the mind. Now tilt your eyes up about 20
degrees and see a movie screen upward and outward, rather like sitting in the
second row of a movie theatre. This is a programming screen and you can program
anything you like. Always program in the positive state and "as if"
you already had whatever you want. If we want to become more aware of something
such as "actual managing moments" we would see ourselves having
these. Then simply go about your usual activities. The program is placed.
The reason these "moments" are so valuable is this. Whenever we catch
one, we actually diminish their power over us. We are no longer frightened or
overwhelmed by them. It is like anything else. We get good at this.

I have a particular emotional state that comes to the supermarket with me. We
work with our emotions as if they were children wearing tee shirts with their
names on the front. Negative ones wear black with white letters. Positive goal
orientated ones wear white shirts with gold letters. One of my negative based
sugar emotions likes to go to the bakery. She used to pull me
there....right across the front of the store. One of my positive goal
orientated emotions is that of "intelligence." She taught the sugar
emotion about labels and all the chemicals on the labels. The outcome of this
funny story is that we always stop in the bakery and read the labels. I can now
hear the sugar one say "yuck" . We then usually march right back to
the fruit section and buy something special. The funniest part to me is that I
tend to do this just about every week. The programming for "yuck" is
actually quite powerful now and has transferred itself to other products,
especially any in a box or cellophane wrapper.

I have to smile at
the word "livable" knowing what that means on so many personal
levels.
Like many of you, I've been down all the paths, and I also have to manage my
sugar personal addiction in this world where we live. At the best and worst of
times it is indeed a challenge. The young person who wrote to me is a student.
I can hear the groans as you all read this,
but each area of life has its own "management issues" and being a
student is a good place to start some real lifestyle changes and personal
development.

When we really want to do something we will find the way. The obstacles
actually become tools of determination & challenge. As we learn to work
with them in our mind with this "frame" we find that the climb over
them is actually motivating in itself. Now this doesn't happen overnight....it
is a matter of practice. We practice in our minds and then...out in the real
world. Just like any sports professional, we learn the tools of our trade or
sport, practice and then practice some more. One day we begin to notice that it
isn't really all that difficult. And so with that out of the way, lets discuss
a plan.

The amount of food one needs is based on the lean body mass and your exercise
level. That means the size of the muscle and bones and how often and how hard
you exercise. This is quite easily figured. You can borrow "The Zone"
by Dr. Barry Sears. All it takes is a measuring
tape. When you know your lean body mass, you will know your protein
requirements. While we don't need to go through life with a scale to measure
our food, we do have to learn to eyeball. In my experience, most people fail at
managing sugar addiction, losing weight, etc., because they don't eat enough of
what they need, and then eat too much of what they don't. This is the formula
for failure. Most women need 8-10 units of protein per day. This is just a
ballpark figure. It is best to work at your own numbers.

Think of your food in these food groups: protein, low-glycemic carbohydrates,
slow-glycemic carbohydrates, high glycemic carbohydrates and fat. There you
have it. Now all we have to do is know what foods are in those groups and go on
with our day. We break our protein needs
into our 3-4 meals. Some of us may need 5 smaller meals. Our family history
will give us some hints to that. If you haven't read the materials at my
website you might want to do so.

For breakfast eat protein, a slow-glycemic choice ( dense bread with no sugar
added or slow-cooked oatmeal.) You also need some fat. It is often in the
protein or can be added. Fruit is generally not a good choice at this time for
sugar addicted people. If you like you can have low-glycemic vegetables. For
lunch once again we have protein, a big selection of lower-glycemic vegetables,
some slow-glycemic bread if you like, and some fat in the form of dressing,
etc. For dinner we have protein, a big serving of low-glycemic vegetables, some
fat which can be added or as part of the protein, and a choice of higher
glycemic foods. These foods are those that turn into sugar more rapidly. They
include all fruits, grains, legumes, starchy vegetables, and certainly all
refined foods. Enjoy these, but limit them. You will find that you don't have
as much desire for them when you eat breakfast and lunch correctly. If
you are very sugar addicted cut out the white foods. Those include pasta, rice,
potatoes, and all white flour products. They are triggers for most sugar
addicted people. Personally I stick mainly
to legumes and fruit. On Saturday I have my "sweet treat." I have
built this discipline for myself because I find it works, but once again be
kind to yourself. It does take time. The good news is that the more you
practice the better you get.

So what do I eat. Well usually for breakfast I have an egg and a piece of dense
rye toast, coffee without sugar and some cream. I personally stay away from
milk. It is a trigger for me. Sometimes for breakfast I have half a sandwich of
some protein. Rather like European eating. For lunch, I usually always pack it.
I have a huge salad of wonderful vegetables, protein usually consists of
grilled chicken, salmon, tofu, or left over meat from dinner. I especially sing
for pot roast. I
don't eat bread at lunch anymore, but in the beginning I had half a sandwich
plus my gigantic salad including a cold cooked vegetable for more denseness.
For dinner I have a huge salad, a cooked low-glycemic vegetable, my protein,
and then I balance out with beans of some sort
or perhaps a root vegetable, fruit, often a biscotti and of course, my espresso
coffee. I find I do not snack anymore because I am not hungry. When I began my
management of sugar addiction I often had an afternoon snack and one before
bedtime. These usually consisted of some sort of cheese and low-glycemic
vegetables. I do have refined sugar at dinner on Saturday. This is usually
something like carrot cake or some other ghastly concoction. I must say that I
do this less and less because I notice my body really doesn't like it and quite
honestly I can get quite excited about strawberries & cream.

I hope this helps you to get some idea. Although it seems difficult, once you
begin eating correctly your body will actually help you. I do utilize hypnosis
to help me manage my compulsive issues & emotions. If you would like to
know more about these tools, check out the website or keep reading here. I'm
sure we will be hitting all the bases sooner or later.

I plan to start living my life
"sugar-free". That is my goal. Of course I have told myself that 100
times and ended up bingeing in the end, but it can't be that way anymore,
because this isn't just about me anymore. I know for right now sugar has to be
out of my life for good, that means I need to plan my meals so that I don't
come down to that dreaded "decision" like you said. I have it very
hard, because being a college student I don't have control over a lot of the
food served to me (although I guess I do have control over what goes into my
mouth). But the cafeteria is filled with sweet treats and the worst part is my
roommate lives off of sweets, but they don't affect her the way they do me,
probably because she has control and moderation when she eats them, plus I eat
so much of them, I guess there is not much left for her. :)
Ohh...willpower, willpower - what is that anyway? Ahh well, the trials and
tribulations of my life. What can you do? They face us all. Oh well, please
pray for me that I can do this. As I know I HAVE to do this. Thanks again for
all you help.

Eliz. Comments...

You will probably find that you
do have more choices than you think. Often times the resistance to change is in
place and it blocks the new possibilities. I see this a lot in my patients, and
certainly in my own history. When we eat the right foods it is much easier to
pass up the foods
that are not good for us. One of the reasons for this is that our insulin-glucagon
chemical balance is helping us. We also learn to utilize imagery to help us
stay the course.

It is also important to be kind to yourself and to treat yourself on occasion.
For me that is usually Saturday evening when I allow myself something really
out of the ordinary. However, I do have fruit each evening and have come to
enjoy this as my "sweet treat." In the past I would
definitely pass up fruit for something more refined.

I suggest you keep a food log so you can observe your progress. Believe it or
not I still do this for myself. I've made it part of my daily journal work. One
day I will share this work with the group. As I look back through the years and
see my food changes along with other changes, I am amazed. This is very
motivating in itself and you might like to try it. Hope you all had a great
weekend. I spent mine in the garden. I love working there. It is another area
where continual work and progress can be enjoyed.

Keep an eye on being bored with
your food choices. The other day I was standing in the vegetable department of
the supermarket wishing there were other choices... Then I woke up! There are
so many ways to prepare all these wonderful choices, but I guess I have been
lazy.
After I went home I opened The Joy of Cooking. Just the name sent a chill down
my spine. Cooking has not been a joy for me for a great while. Part of the
reason is that I work like many of you do, and it seems one meal just runs into
the other. Once again I told my emotional state to sit down and focus on the
goal.....preparing better choices for myself...and of course my family. I found
no less than 15 ways to cook cauliflower. Most of them were quite simple. I
went ahead and made one last night and today had the rest of it on my salad for
lunch. It was so good!

If you would like to share recipes here, that is fine with me. Even if you are
in school and have a place where you might be able to prepare some food ( hot
plate, et.al) don't count yourself out. Let's try to bring some additional
"joy of cooking" into our lives. I've joined a couple of recipe
groups that send emails on a daily basis. One is quite fun. On Monday the meal
is spelled out. Each day they send out a recipe for one of the courses. This
week the focus is Belgian! yesterday was the appetizer and today the soup! All
of them so far are low in carbohydrates which is great for us. If any of you
have links to share or recipe groups you belong to, please let us know.

Can
you help me get started? I have a life-long sugar problem.
I've had periods of success with this problem in the past but find myself
struggling again. Any words of encouragement would be appreciated.
Rae from Atlanta

If you go back into the archives you will find
one that I wrote about setting up a plan. I can't open those files right this
minute, but you will find it. If you have any questions about the plan, just
write back. The more questions the more we learn. On my website you can find an
article about managing sugar addiction. This will give you some further
insights. I hope you hear from the other group members and also tell your
colleagues about this area.

I've recognized sugar as addictive for a long
time. But I've had such a hard time with it because it seems like frequently
I'm the only one who realizes just how bad it is for you and how it can be very
addictive for some of us.

I've struggled with trying to get off sugar for so long. When I stay away from
it I feel fabulous and now because I have had periods of up to 3 months without
it (that includes honey and all sweeteners) that when I do get back on it I
really feel how awful it is to my body. The problem that I'm having is that I
know that I use sugar to cope emotionally and I'm going through a difficult
time right now and I started dabbling in it again around the holidays and I
haven't
been able to fully get off of it again and it makes me feel awful. I can't
think straight after a while.

I guess what I wondering is how do you still have friends and socialize when
you can't even be around people when they eat all this sugar? I just wonder how
you learn to cope with not eating poorly when everyone around you is. I belong
to a group that I practice with spiritually and I can't believe the things that
they eat. I also see the connection between my spirituality and what I put into
my mouth but even many people who are on a spiritual path don't see it. So I'm
frustrated.

Additionally, because of my years of sugar abuse it seems that I have developed
other food sensitivities. I have some familiarity with systemic candida and
suspect that they may be some of my problems as well but I have yet to find a
doctor who doesn't look at me like I have 5 heads or is willing to work with
me. Are there any other people in the group who also suffer from other food
allergies? I find that difficult as well because it narrows my food choices
even further. Unfortunately too when I'm on sugar it masks all these other
symptoms but then when I'm off
of it I can really feel all the other things I can't eat as well. I have mold
sensitivities so that let's
out a lot of nuts and cheeses. I'm not much of a meat eater at all so right
there it makes the whole protein issue difficult. Seafood can be a problem as
well sometimes.

Eliz Comments...

Yes, it is true that more people are
"unaware" than "aware." Our work is to stay in total
awareness and actually those that appear unaware can help us in a very special
way. As we notice them in a detached way, we give gratitude for our awareness
and growth. We see ourselves in that moment free of our addiction. We have no
need to discuss this with anyone unless they ask for specific information from
us. Our work is only with ourselves.

As we learn to manage our emotional states utilizing awareness meditation and
interactive self-hypnosis we gain control. We learn to work with small moments
and in particular look for the warning thoughts or emotions that come forward.
We also make certain we are eating at very high levels and that we have not
brought problem foods into our homes. If we live
with others who have those foods, there are other things we can do to help us
stay out of compulsion. When we are out of the house it is really quite
easy.... we place programs in our mind that move us past those obstacles.

We learn to work from the position of
self-responsibility and leave other people to manage their lessons in their own
time, or if thinking spiritually, when the good Lord chooses to present the
lesson... You are now involved in other lessons, and this is where your focus
must be. Perhaps you are meant to be a teacher by example. I was one last week
at a luncheon. I already knew there would be cocktails, bread, potatoes and
dessert. I knew before I went in that I would be eating chicken, salad and
drinking water and maybe a cup of coffee. A few people asked why I wasn't
having those things, and I just simply said that I don't eat them for lunch.
They left me alone rather quickly and went off to their own business. Stay off
the subject completely and if it is brought up, move it along quickly. Sit in
prayer and gratitude for what you know and the health you are bringing to
yourself in those moments. Offer them up to your Higher Power as a gift from
you.

I know you don't have 5 heads...There are
several good books on this subject. I hope you have read some of them. I also
had the underlying yeast/food sensitivity problems and I am happy to report
that all is well in that department, but first I had to take a walk in the
woods. By that I mean I had to change some things radically before I could get
better. Many people who have difficulty losing weight often have underlying
yeast problems. I also have many clients with these issues and so they are very
common. The good news is that we can often put problem foods back in after
awhile. Getting some enjoyable protein is important for you. Many times sugar
addicted people don't like protein, but we have to eat it and so we use
self-hypnosis or whatever.....but we do eat it. For myself I went on the
Caveman diet about 10 years ago and stayed on it for about a month. I also used
some nystatin to help me with the yeast. Capracylic acid also works well and
you can get it in the health food store. I may have spelled it incorrectly, but
it is close enough. Once I finished the Caveman I moved on to an eating plan
not too far afield.

I know I have these underlying problems and I
don't ever again want to go back to where I was. I do eat some grains now, but
not too often. My diet is protein, low-glycemic vegetables, some fruit at
dinner and sometimes legumes, sweet potatoes, other root vegetables, and on
occasion some dessert but not very often. I do drink coffee but have cut way
back. I never touch soda and do drink quite a bit of water. i like sparkling
water with a slice of lemon. My eating plan does take work. I have to think
about what will make me happy and then I have to buy it. I tend to simple
preparation such as grilling. I would have to say that I eat better than ever
and certainly health-wise I am better than ever.

Dealing with this problem however is a life-time
thing. I see myself as still sugar addicted and part of me does want to eat it.
I do allow myself some of those things, but not very often. The price to the
piper is far too high. I would suggest you either practice emotional management
with awareness meditation or else utilize prayer. Fractionate your day,
bringing it in on the hour just for a moment. Let your body get heavy, breath
deeply and feel the energy rising and then tilt your eyes up about 20 degrees
and see yourself as completely at peace and in health.

There have been several questions about the yeast connection to
sugar addiction and so for the benefit of those people who are not in our group
and come to look at our archives, I am going to begin a new thread. For those
who are reading this area for the first time, the last few messages before this
one do address the yeast connection in some way.

Caprylic Acid is also called Capricin and Caprystatin. It is a new, but old
antifungal medication and is available without prescription. It is a short
chain, saturated fatty acid. It has been found to be effective in eliminating
yeast overgrowth. It is carried in most health food stores and probably you can
find it on the web. Of course you can find everything on the web! I remember
taking this in the beginning of my yeast attack days and found it to be quite
effective. Of course, no need to be taking all of this business and not getting
the food straightened out.

Today I worked with three women dealing with these issues. It is amazing how
many people have problems with this. It is one of the underlying issues in many
chronic problems. The road to health is often through some mud puddles, and
dealing with yeast is often a bigger than usual puddle. However, I kept telling
myself that one day this would be over, and indeed it was. I never ever want to
go back to that problem area again and so this is very motivational for me in
keeping to my dietary plans. While I believe in balance, the only way to get
through the yeast puddle for many people is through some pretty strict
roads.

I'm a new member, and wanted to contribute a bit. I just
wanted to say thank you for the wonderful information you provide at your site,
and thanks to everyone on the board for being so willing to share their
experience. I am brand new on this road of discovery, and already I'm learning
so much. I've been hooked on sugar my whole life. I remember eating sugar out
of the sugar bowl by the spoonful. Candy, cookies, birthday cake, frosting-out
of a jar and by the spoonful--you name it, I could not get enough.

Yesterday, I had a day without candy, without refined sugar,
and almost without any white flour products (I did eat half a Kaiser roll with
my sandwich at dinner). I was quite astounded at the difference, especially in
energy levels. I did have some headaches, but my usual fatigue seemed absent,
my energy was steadier throughout the day, and I made it all the way through a
movie without falling asleep. I'm so excited at the prospect of finally
unlocking some of the mysteries of my moods, and those last several pounds
which no amount of low-fat eating or exercise would really budge.

By some blessing, my new awareness is arriving just in time
for a much-needed grocery trip, for staples as well as daily need foodstuffs.
So here I am, wondering if anywhere in this wonderful resource there is a
suggested kitchen stock list. I work a good deal, and food has to be reasonably
quick and simple to prepare, or I'll resort to cereal and milk for dinner! :)
Any suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks again. I appreciate having a
group to share this journey with.

Eliz Comments...

Many of us started very young with this problem. We were unaware, as were most
of our families. I remember eating bags and bags of cookies, candy, chocolate
pudding, cake, etc. My Mother just thought I had a big appetite and she took me
to the local MD who placed me on amphetamines when I was about 11 years old.
Also, the other foods provided at home were more towards the high glycemic ones
such as rice, pasta ( then called spaghetti !) peas, lima beans, etc. I wasn't
all that keen on protein and often slipped it in my pocket at dinner and
flushed it down the toilet. ( Such fond memories... ) I wasn't over-weight
then, just eating and eating.

Sounds like you had some withdrawal symptoms. It
is a daily challenge, especially in the beginning. There are many things we can
do to help ourselves, and we are the only ones who can do so. I used to wait
for someone to control me, such as my husband or friends. Not a good idea. It
is best to be self-responsible and to keep the power right where it belongs. We
stay motivated by positive images such as those you wrote about above. Start a
mind journal and place those active images in place. They will be very useful
down the pike. As we learn to eat correctly the body helps us stay clean. This
doesn't mean we can't ever have anything sugar-related, but we find ourselves
in choice instead of compulsion.

Low-fat eating is just the opposite of what sugar-addicted
people need. This doesn't mean we must eat high fat, but just a healthy amount.
I tend not to focus on fat intake, but my food choices are usually lean
protein. I love olive oil and do eat meat, fish, chicken, veal, etc. I also eat
eggs, cheese of all kinds, and on occasion bacon. When we exercise it is
important to know
we are eating sufficient protein. If anyone on this list would like help with
this please let me know. The book you ordered contains many food
lists of protein, low-glycemics and the higher glycemic group. This will help
you to plan and shop. When I began this journey I kept a copy of this in my
wallet. Anyone on the list who would like this please do the same. I will post
it on the website, but that will take me a few days but it is a good idea. I'm
not a big cook, especially during the week. Most foods are grilled or
pan-fried. Lots of vegetables etc. All questions are always welcomed.

I would love some help unraveling the mystery of
protein and how much I need for my body type and activity level. Incidentally,
I have a business trip in 10 days and I'm nervous about sticking with it while
I'm away. I'm a little stressed out about traveling anyway. Any
suggestions to help stay with it.

Again thanks for the advice to focus on the positive. I need to often remind
myself how much better I feel when I eat what is good for my body rather than
what I may be craving at the moment. Plus when I stay with it I don't have to
re-experience the withdrawal symptoms of getting off sugar.

Eliz Comments...

The amount of protein needed depends on your lean body mass
and exercise levels. For most women this is between 8-10 units of protein per
day to burn fat. There is no need to measure anything, but one does need to
eyeball protein intake, especially to make certain you do not
under-protein. Come to the complimentary classes and learn more about
this.

I know that this is a group for sugar addicts and I hope the
group doesn't mind my indulgence in the Yeast Connection topic. For me the two
just go so hand in hand and other than books I have yet to find too many people
who have had first hand experience with the
topic. I have even discussed it with several doctors who really were not
familiar with the topic beyond "female complaints".

Eliz Comments...

Most certainly all information about the yeast
connection is welcomed here. Many people with sugar addiction do have this
problem and it also found in other compulsive disorders, as well as many
chronic diseases. I took the anti-fungal nystatin for about 6 months. The dose
was relatively low, and I kept adjusting it to how I felt during that time. I
used the straight powder
as a swish and swallow. It was rather unpleasant, but then so was the yeast
problem!

The Caveman Diet was very challenging. I really didn't have much problem
staying on it as I utilized self-hypnosis to do so. I also made certain that I
had lots to eat and also foods that I really enjoyed. I didn't go out to eat
very often during that time, and the few times I did were a bit difficult, but
I was very determined to succeed. I had been sick for so very long and the idea
of being well was very motivating. I did take a multi-vitamin, but quite
honestly the food I was eating was so very good, if I were to evaluate it I
would have to say that I ate better than ever...

Obviously we all know that sugar addiction
exists but have there been any studies about sugar addiction? Are there any
proven facts? Do you believe that there is any connection between sugar
addiction and attention deficit? Do you believe that the run of the mill
American should lessen the amount of sugar in their diet?

Eliz Comments...

Yes indeed, there are many studies on sugar
addiction, but you probably won't find them under that title. For the past 30
years there has been extensive research in something called hyperinsulinemia
which is the over-production of insulin in response to carbohydrate foods. This
is also the key to something called insulin resistance. Both of these are keys
to the development of diabetes. There is a very good book called The Hidden
Addiction and How to Get Free by Janice Keller Phelps, M.D. In this book you
will learn that sugar is the underlying addiction to all major addictions.
Those include alcohol, nicotine, drugs, caffeine, etc. I have an ongoing study
here in my office which I will be publishing soon. The focus is obesity, as
well as the sugar/carb connection to smoking cessation. There is definitely a
connection between attention deficit and sugar addiction, but it is mainly a
problem of insulin. Before a person can concentrate at high levels, the body
needs to be burning fat as a fuel. This is true even if the
person is at their ideal weight. This cannot happen if the insulin/glucagon
hormones are out of balance. To attain this, the diet must be correct. The
American diet is very poor and much too high in refined carbohydrates/sugar.
Remember those are both the same. It is not only what is eaten, but what is not
eaten that becomes important. To make matters worse people in this
country sugar all day long in the form of food and drinks. Artificial
sweeteners also cause grief, as the body responds to them with insulin
production, as if they were regular sugars.

I'd appreciate tips on how to stay "on the
wagon" while traveling without being too high maintenance for my traveling
companions. I'll be able to deal with the breakfast issue by eating at my hotel
before the conference, so not relying on the pastry that will undoubtedly fill
the tables, but I am a bit curious about lunch and dinner, as I'll be relegated
to restaurant fare. Any suggestions are most appreciated.

Eliz Comments...

Good questions. Actually breakfast is usually the problem, but
you are solving it at the hotel. I find lunch and dinner quite easy. For lunch I
can usually find a great salad and protein. When breakfast and lunch are
"in line ", we can usually do quite well at dinner. Just read the menu
a bit differently.....first look for salads, vegetables and then switch
attention to protein. Then fill in with foods from the higher glycemic list. I
try to stay as free as possible from white flour, but in a pinch I would go
ahead. Some restaurants are easier than others, but with the right mind-set you
can do it.

My problem is usually airports and of course, flying. When possible I bring my
own food and even ask for it to be heated. I usually travel with some sort of
container especially if I have an early flight. Some airlines don't like people
bringing their own food, but try to choose something that doesn't have much of
an odor.... :D In airports, I do look around and sometimes one
just has to understand that you can't find anything better. In those moments, do
the best you can and know that it won't last forever, so enjoy it!

Sugar sugar everywhere! Well the major sugar-addiction holiday is over and it is
time for new beginnings. When we have a tendency to go towards sugar we have to
focus on beginning again many times. This does not make us failures....in actual
fact it makes us success stories. Falling down is one thing, getting up another,
and walking forward is progress. Forget about getting perfect, or waiting to
begin because of this, that or the other.

I see we have more members now and everyone is simply sitting still for some
reason. What makes these groups fun and helpful is to share ordinary experiences
of how you get up over and over and go forward to new arenas of "inner
testing." I hope each and everyone of you
writes just a short ( or long ) something-or-other about yourself and where you
are in regard to sugar managing.

It often surprises people that I still have strong issues with sugar. I
probably always will because a good part of it is physiological, and the other
part emotional. The more I learn to observe my cravings and compulsions in
relation to sugar-desire, I see how my brain is wired. I have an inner program
that says, "eat sugar and calm down." As soon as it hits my lips I do
so which in itself is quite amusing to observe. I have been reprogramming that
old dangerous belief, but on occasion it still surfaces. Whenever we notice
something we don't want, it is important to observe it carefully first and then
work in the reprogramming area.

I am still learning to live without fear and take care of
myself. I think the real helper in preparing my meals without "guilt"
is from Elizabeth. When you talk about how we need to eat for a functioning
metabolism and to starve is to slow the metabolism. I feel sad that I still have
so much anxiety about eating a simple meal. This is a natural necessity to my
body and I think this anxiety is the direct root to the binges. That the only
way I can allow myself "nourishment" is to "hurry up" and
"shovel it in." wow... the awareness's... amazing how the craziness
with my addiction of course carries into every aspect of my life... and also how
recovery can also
carry into as well...this is a gift...

Eliz Comments...

It is so important to stay in heightened awareness. This is
our major work! Most of us tend to
shy away from areas that are unpleasant, but these are the most important areas
for growth potential. Do not be afraid to let yourself "see" your
truths. As you see them, so they will heal and transform you. The more you are
willing to see.....the better you are going to get.
When you find yourself behind the guilt or fear rock, simply step out and look
up...see your end goal image and yourself being healed with love and
compassion.

I was wondering how sugar addiction plays
into binge eating. I find myself bingeing on
all foods with sugar and once I start with the sugar, I cannot stop. Do you
think hypnosis is something I should look into? I am about 25-30lbs overweight.

Eliz: Sugar addiction is a major key to binge eating. It is next
to impossible to stop bingeing until sugar addiction is under control because
the body will not help you, but hinder instead. Hypnosis is almost
necessary to contain this problem, because it is a problem that has
physiological underpinnings, as well as emotional. The fact that you are
over-weight points to reactive hypoglycemia, and this will only get worse if
the problem isn't managed.

Many hypnotherapists do not understand how to manage sugar addiction because it
is a medical problem. The suggestions must be based on medical reasoning
in order for the patient to be successful. In fact, many hypnotherapists
actually make the problem worse by giving the patient suggestions to cut way
back on foods that are necessary to manage sugar addiction.

I suggest you join the sugar addiction discussion group I have
online and/or work on my websites.

Ah yes....the all important hyperinsulinemia ! When
looking to Lick Sugar Addiction it is important to understand how our family
& personal medical history, as well as our food & beverage habits over
the years have brought us to this very dangerous & life-threatening
addiction....because that is what it is. This is simply not about a candy bar
fetish!

We are all born with a genetic palate. Some of us were born with a tendency
towards certain diseases such as heart, diabetes, certain cancers, circulatory
diseases, high blood pressure, stroke, yo-yo weight gain & a variety of
addictions from alcohol to smoking to food. This "tendency towards"
is a biochemical factor that can cause you to either over-produce a hormone
known as insulin or develop a resistance to it. Most people have both
problems....over-production followed by resistance on the cell borders.

Insulin is important to life & we must have it to live. However, if the
pancreas wears out from the over-production because of the ineffectiveness of
the resistant cell borders, then what started out as a tendency towards has
moved into hyperinsulinemia or reactive hypoglycemia, and is on it's way to
adult diabetes. In a way the disease term "adult diabetes" is a
misnomer, because we are now seeing children diagnosed with this killer disease
at early ages.

Some of the symptoms of hyperinsulinemia or reactive
hypoglycemia include yo-yo weight gain, cravings especially for sugar or high
glycemic foods, intense hunger, weakness, shakiness, the need for frequent
meals, poor concentration, emotional instability, memory disorders, lack of
focus, feelings of anxiety & panic, lack of motivation, fatigue & a
host of other symptoms.

The condition is associated with stress, anxiety, smoking, weight gain &
poor concentration. It is also connected to the development of those family
history diseases....heart, circulatory, high cholesterol, stroke, high blood
pressure, certain cancers, PMS & a host of other physiological problems
including acne & difficulty in conception.

The good news is that you can work towards correction & improvements can be
made at the cell borders, so you can go towards health instead of walking
towards diabetes & heart disease.

We must continually work to correct the insulin resistance. This
work could also be called disease prevention. Each & every day we must eat
correctly for our genetic make-up & also work to manage our emotional
states & levels of stress.

It takes special tools such as desire, motivation, persistence &
self-discipline to achieve correction & most of us have little to no
experience with utilizing these tools long term or in making permanent
lifestyle changes.

We look to obtain these tools in a variety of places. If we have resilience, we
can look there hypnotically. Resilience means that somewhere along the road we
have survived something big or difficult. The longer the survival process, the
more resilience we can find. People who have stopped drinking, stopped smoking,
lived through a life-threatening experience, challenged disease and/or a
disability usually have good resilience. These experiences are chemically coded
in the subconscious mind & can be applied to other challenges, thereby
chemically coding them as well.

We can also look to role models for resilience & actually transfer from
them hypnotically. These are special imagery techniques & I will discuss
them in the hypnotic area of this board.

We can work to build resilience moment to moment. This is like a figure skater
who practices the same jump over & over. Sometimes he/she falls &
sometimes the jump is good & other times it is near perfect. This does not
mean that he/she will never fall again, but you can be sure that the jump work
will continue. This is the building of resilience.

We can also work hypnotically & chain smaller resilient memories together.
I will discuss this in the other areas of this website.

Hyperinsulinemia is reactive hypoglycemia. While you cannot
recover from this overnight, you can certainly feel better in a few short
weeks. You can banish symptoms & correct the underlying metabolic errors.

It's important to know that you will have to work on these problems throughout
your life. You will not be returning to the way you ate previously.... that is
unless you want to return to hypoglycemia. Most people don't! However, there is
often a destructive part of us. This is the child part who wants what she wants
when she wants it! Hypnosis & interactive self-hypnosis allow us to manage
the child right in the moment.

You are going to make BIG CHANGES in the way that you eat. More than likely you
don't eat regularly, and miss the nutrients needed by your body to help
control cravings. There is lots of information in this list to help with your
meal planning..... yes, meal planning!
While you don't have to cook complicated meals, etc., you will need to give
thought to how you will meet your dietary needs for managing the hypoglycemia.

BTW, if you found yourself putting up a negative message flag when you read
about meal planning, simply notice that child part of you. More than likely
that part gets in your way more than you would like.

You are going to have to give up all refined sugars. That virtually means all
sweets. You know what they are! If you are drinking alcohol you may not be
craving them, but if you are not drinking & certainly if you come from an
alcoholic family history, you most likely have experienced sugar cravings.

In addition to the sugars, you will want to temporarily eliminate dairy, wheat
& corn. Both are common allergens & contribute to hypoglycemia in many
people. If you know that you don't tolerate wine, you will want to get rid of
vinegar.

You will be pleasantly surprised about the kinds of foods that you can eat. You
will probably be eating better than you have in years. There are some nutrients
to add to block sugar cravings & I'll be discussing them in another post.

Preparing to make healthy lifestyle changes involves a very
special kind of planning & of course, power tools. This board & my
websites are filled to the brim with tools for you to achieve in all areas of
your life. You may be familiar with some of these tools & that is great.
Here you will also be finding new applications for old tools & so I ask you
to stay open & receptive to this work. Try it....you may like it!

I'll also be presenting some very new tools to you. In fact, we will be doing
just about all our work in the state of light interactive self-hypnosis. There
is very good reason for this.

Most of us tend to sleep-walk during the day & tend to be lost in fantasy
programs. The work here is Optimum Mindbody Work& requires a wake-up from
our daily sleep walking & to refocus on the work at hand.

We also want the full cooperation of the subconscious mind, so the work will be
"optimal." Interactive Self-Hypnosis is the tool of choice for this
waking up & refocusing process & you already know how it feels to sleep
walk. Now I'll show you how to work with purposeful hypnosis!

Working with the subconscious mind is not a mystery, nor is it difficult. There
is no need to be lying down in some deep trance sate. You can easily learn to
do this type of inner work right in the moment. While there is value in working
with a hypnotherapist for problem areas, the subconscious mind is a valuable
health resource & everyone would benefit from knowing how to do this.

We will be working with a simple relaxation response, slowing the brain waves
to just below the alpha brain wave level, about 7-10 cycles per second. At this
level you can request information via inner pictures, or plant active
suggestions & commands. I will guide you through this as you begin your
work in self-assessment.

Each time you sit down to work at the EZboard, simply place your fingertips on
your lower abdomen & allow it to fill with a deep breath. I call this a big
yawn breath. Next, allow your body to become heavy in the chair & observe
your fingers riding up & down on your lower abdomen. After reading this
paragraph, close your eyes gently & tilt them up about 20 degrees, just as
if you were sitting in the second row of a movie theater.

Tune into your body. You will begin to feel the relaxation response in
different areas. Your brain waves are slowing, stress chemicals are diminishing
& you are now right at the door of your subconscious mind. Open your eyes,
feeling alert now, focused & ready to begin some easy subconscious
exploration in getting to know yourself.

The holistic tools you will be utilizing here will reap benefits in many
different areas of mindbody functioning. While the focus of this Q&A
area is managing sugar addiction, the mind & body are truly connected
& so nothing can be considered separate when looking to manage addictions
of any kind.

Less than 1% of the population knows how to utilize these tools or works with
them on a regular basis. As you work to develop your own personal disciplines,
your inner motivation to continue will come from the close observation of your
own successes, both big & small alike. As you become more aware &
intuitive, your discipline will grow & become an integral part of your
life.

If you are working with audio programs I've designed, I suggest you also listen
to them before going to sleep. This will allow you to cue your dream states for
the goals you are currently working to achieve. If you need help in choosing an
audio to assist you, please let me know.

All of our work is done in a light self-hypnotic state, by
deeply relaxing. On this Q&A list you will find some areas that will
give you direct suggestions for this. While you can do this work
without self-hypnosis, I really think you short-change yourself in the long
run. So, if you are just reading through this, do plan to take time later &
utilize the mindbody connection to it's fullest.

We are going to open the subconscious mind to your general medical information.
The mind is very well organized & not at all like the tops of our desks!
Let's begin by having a look at your past health files, as well as your current
health. You might want to open a journal for this purpose so you are not
limited in space for writing. The subconscious mind is sensitive to the
presentation of limitations & will see this as "expectations"
& will oblige by limiting access if you are writing on something like a
little notepad.

Also make certain that your work is kept for your eyes only. Your subconscious
mind will show you more if it feels safe & protected, especially in the
beginning.

This is a good time to practice both inner & outer organization. The Inner
Librarian likes order & will bring more files forward when order is
recognized. When your life is indicating that you are over-whelmed, both the
mind & body move out of the creative mode into the survival mode, striving
for balance or homeostasis instead of some super creative break-throughs!

You might like to clear your desk except for your journal & pen. Take the
phone off the hook. Turn your cell phone off, as well as the radio, TV or other
interrupters including people. Take this important time for you alone. Make
your needs known. All of this preparation sends the message to the subconscious
mind librarian that important work is about to begin here & do know that
the law of positive expectations will prevail!

Starting at the top of your head scan down your body, mentally touching base
with each area. You might take your head as one unit & evaluate your eyes,
nose, ears, skin, mouth & certainly your teeth. Going further inward
examine your neck area, voice box & go down into your lungs right &
left. Now find your esophagus & travel down to your stomach, digestive
organs including gallbladder, liver, pancreas & down your intestinal tracts
to the rectum.

Take some time to review your heart & circulatory system, reproductive,
skeletal, urinary, endocrine systems, as well as your skin.

Make some notes on your current status. In the next posting we will utilize
time-line regression & go back to the early child files related to this
exploration.

If you are working with Interactive Self-Hypnosis Audio, remember to program
before sleeping to cue in your dream states! This is powerful programming
"air time!!"

Begin by eliciting your relaxation response again. Remember,
it only takes 1/200th of a second to arrive below the alpha brain wave level.
Find the quiet area of your mind & take a few moments to enjoy how pleasant
it is to be in the quiet mind space. Notice you are in the Big Subconscious
Library & your Inner Librarian is coming towards you. The subconscious mind
loves images & games, so go up to the time-line wall mural & show your
librarian the time frame for the information you are requesting. Make certain
he/she knows that you want the health & medical information.

Your teen years were times of growth, hormones & certainly change. .Begin
reviewing your history as in your childhood health book. Go from top to bottom
again, both inner & outer. Notice areas that appear the same & others
appear quite differently. Your body is changing rapidly in some areas. Notice
how you look & feel health-wise as a teenager. If there were any illnesses
or surgery, make note of these.

Notice how you took care of yourself nutritionally & how others influenced
your choices. Have a look at some family photos in the food choices area of
your book. Who made choices & how did you respond to those choices? What
would you have changed if you could have done so?

Now look at your exercise area & notice your choices, as well as behaviors
relating to exercise patterns. Who did you imitate or try to emulate in this
area of your growth? What would you have done differently if you could re-visit
this part of your book?

This is a good time to look at stressors & how you handled these. For ease
break this area down into parental stress, sibling & family, friends,
school & activities & anything else. You will most likely see the
beginnings of many patterns. Have a look for mentors. Who were your leaders
and/or heroes?

Who made the decisions in regard to your lifestyle behavior choices? Were you
imposed upon, or did you just follow along? Did you ever make waves & if
so, what kind of outcomes did you experience. How did you respond to these
outcomes? If you could edit this area, what if anything would you do
differently?

This is a good moment to work in your journal. The work you do in your Inner
Library is similar to re-writing a screen play or book. Your subconscious mind
does not know fact from fiction, so this is a good opportunity to write some
powerful fiction & have it interpreted as fact, even though it already
happened. Your subconscious librarian will store it in it's new edited version.

The audio I suggest you choose for this place in time is the regression audio,
the workshop, as well as automatic writing. The more tools you pull into your
regression work, the better. Once invited, your subconscious librarian will
bring forth many jewels for you to review & also re-edit. Don't back up
from anything presented.

All books contain powerful material that can be applied to your future
end-goals. Memories have already happened. While they may need to be rinsed off
& cleaned up a bit, there isn't anything that cannot benefit you. Once
something is on the table & you look at it with "clean eyes", it
is yours to manipulate to your benefit.

Begin by eliciting your relaxation response again. If you
need to read more about this, please open some of the earlier posts in this
area... It only takes 1/200th of a second to arrive below the alpha level. Find
the quiet area of your mind & take a few moments to enjoy how pleasant it
is to be in the quiet mind space.

Notice you are in a big library. The shelves are filled with books. Go to the
area called "early works" and take your childhood health book off the
shelf. Notice your name is on the cover & that you are the author.

Let's begin the book review. Open to the first page... your earliest
recollection. Give the images time to settle. Be sure not to rush. Ask your
subconscious mind to show you any & all information about your health
status at this time. Go from top to bottom again, both inner & outer.
Notice how you look "health-wise" as a young child. If there were any
illnesses or surgery, make note of these. Slowly move up the chapters &
spend a few moments in each childhood year. Later you will work with teen &
adult years.

Often times past illness or surgery holds scars beyond what the eye can see.
Sometimes these highly charged memories get in the way of current or future
goals, even non-health related ones. They are often connected to the
development of belief systems, some of which are no longer useful. In your work
you will learn to utilize everything that is presented to you.

This is a good moment to explore your Sugar Addiction Management goals with
your early children. In the theater of your mind ask a representative from each
age to join you. Go ahead & explain your goal to them. Be as detailed as
possible & tell it exactly as if you were telling this to any child. Go
ahead & sell it to them!

And when you have finished, ask for their input. Ask what they think about it,
what they like about it & what they don't like. All good salespeople know
it is best to have all objections out on the table where they can be negotiated
or dealt with! If problems are presented by the child parts of yourself, ask
how THEY would suggest solving these. And now, ask how they WILL HELP you to
achieve this worthy goal.

I like journaling for this work. If you are already working with the automatic
writing audio, you can add some of those exercises to your work with your inner
children. And....do listen before bedtime so you can engage your dream states
into this part of your work.

Inner child behavior is vital to healthy long-term health, weight & sugar
addiction management. Work patiently & carefully as you get more team
members in place....

Within the last 24 hours I had two phone calls
from people who want to be hypnotized to stop eating. To me this is very sad
indeed. Sometimes a difficult part of my work is teaching people how not to be
afraid of food. They have spent so many years trying to lose weight by
starvation & it is very frightening to eat as much as one needs to actually
burn fat.

When exercising we need even more food than when not exercising.
Often times people find themselves at a plateau when increasing exercise &
can't understand what is wrong. They may also find their hunger increasing
& that is "inconvenient" when trying to cut back on food.

Learning to eat meals again was a big one for me. I was a grazer and never
seemed to have much hunger at meal time. Or, I was starving and found that
after eating crackers or bread I had little
hunger left. Then I ended up being hungry in an hour or so, and often a bit
shaky as well. Of course I now know that was hyperinsulinemia. Becoming
disciplined in my eating behaviors was a real challenge, and does still
continue, but thankfully it is so much better than before. I hope you are all
well and paying attention to the needs of your body.

Sugar Addiction plays out in our mind and body
in many different ways. While sugar may appear to be the culprit, it is
only the antagonist. The problem is that the body over produces insulin
in response the sugar, or high-glycemic foods. What one "feels"
is a blood sugar issue, as well as the production of other stress hormones that
go along with it. Sugar and the insulin response is very connected to emotional management, including
anxiety, panic disorder, depression, PMS and a host of others. To understand why
this is so we do have to become educated in the workings of food & beverage
and relationships of family & personal medical history. We also must look
at our lifestyle habits from the beginning. Sometimes we don't like to look. We
tend to cover these memories, or paste excuses over them. "Oh, I was
young, etc. etc. etc." In our attempt to be educated we must look, see the
reality of what we did to ourselves, and then commit to change.

All food and
beverage acts like chemicals or drugs in the body, and depending on our past
lifestyle behaviors, will alter
emotional responses. Some people can actually experience a feeling of being
high or drunk from food and non-alcoholic beverage. As we begin to agree to see
"our state of affairs" we can begin to make responsible choices.

On a
good note, as we recover the mind and body will assist
us in staying "clean." We find that we want less of the offending
foods. One of the beverages I had a real issue with was diet soda. I really
didn't even know how much of it I was drinking. Sipping it through the day is
even worse than chugging a can. Sipping keeps the insulin levels up
continually, and therefore increasing stress chemical production, and depleting
brain neurotransmitters that are connected to depression, anxiety and a host of
other chemical emotional states.

Interactive self-hypnotic tools help to make
changes permanent. They also help to release stress hormones, thereby
keeping insulin and the others in a healthier balance. As you learn to
manage your emotions and related mind pictures right in the moment, you stay on
the road to a higher level of health across the board.

Welcome to the club! Once again, take down the banner.
I want you to go back & read what you wrote. This is called a
"victim script"...... if we were making a movie, this could be
the dialog for one of the weeping women. I want you to stay in
awareness of this. The victim role is very powerful for most people
& we all have it. When we come to recognize it, we do not skin our
knees as badly. We want to work with this part with "interactive
self-hypnosis." It's quite easy. Of course we don't like how
this part feels, but that is where the power is....... and so, once you
notice it, your work is to disassociate from it. You do this by
noticing AND THEN bringing your breath to your lower abdomen &
allowing your body to feel a level of heaviness. You can also use an
affirmation here such as "I forgive myself & have compassion for
myself. This is my child-self announcing..... I am working with
self-correction & I celebrate my work."

Most of us are horrified by our "shadow" or dark-side.......our inner
secret self !! Take your banner down. We all have
it........... and it's ok. Our work is to own it, be self-responsible
& manage it. The work above is called disassociation. This
places us in the position of "reprogramming or re-educating" this
part. We do this with imagery. It can be as simple as seeing the
child-self sit down & begin to read our new goal outcome book.

Most of us have eating disorders, so "take down the
banner." One only has to visit the supermarket, the cinema, or just
about any regular restaurant & you will see the eating disorders. A
trip to the mall has the same effect. Look in the shopping carts.... look
to the number of fast food restaurants that are growing...... one next to the
other. Visit a school playground or
the cafeteria in a hospital & look at the people eating there AND the most
favorite foods. AND, just about every one of the eating disordered group
is or has been a twirler!! For those of you not familiar with twirling,
this refers to those who move from one self-management program to another,
including diet programs & never truly engage with the program in the proper
way.

What's important here is that you now have come out & stated it in black
&white. BTW, I have an eating disorder ! I have to manage it
each & every day & more than that on some days. Once you know what
you have, you can learn to take care of it. It's interesting to think
about this. When I bring to my patient's attention that their eating
disorder is not DISORDERLY all day
long.......... they have to laugh. Of course........most of us are not
entertaining our disorderly eating self while we sleep, although some do wake up
for it. Most of us can handle our disorderly eating self during other times
of the day, etc. So it becomes important for us to know WHEN this
disorderly part comes forward & WHY we think this may be. Again, the
more we know the better for us.

Since I corrected my disorderly-eating self with proper nutrition, this part
only comes to bother me before dinner & in the early evening. Before
eating proper nutrition it came without notice & it could be during the
morning, afternoon most certainly, right after dinner & throughout the
evening. I also did wake up in the night & entertain it then......so
things are much better for me
now. My responsibility is to keep the proper nutrition in place
ALWAYS &then to deal with the disorderly part of me when it visits.
I'm still in the process of studying it & probably always will do because
life brings many surprises....and things are always changing.

Compulsions are often related to the need to release tension
& so therefore are very useful. You might like to observe your
compulsion from the position of being very still..... let me explain a bit
further through a personal example.

My most challenging time is around 9 PM..... my
child-self is out roaming & asking for foods to "put her down"
into deep relaxation. These are requests for "release"..... when
stress levels are higher & major problems are present, the needs for release
are greater. It's rather like a baby asking to "go down" with
her bottle. I know that all of us can recognize this. When working
with addictions it is important to isolate the times that are the most
challenging & also the particular needs of the child-self. This
awareness must come first for until we see something clearly, we cannot work
with it. Sometimes there are small things...... but they trigger big time.
I know it is that way with me. It can be as simple as just having a busy
day, or just the
opposite.....a quiet day. For me quiet days are almost more problematic
for my child-self. She loves to move around & be super busy.......
that is one of my "behavior patterns" that can be quite problematic.
So, this is all about getting to know one's emotional & behavioral facets,
clarifying them & then challenging them or managing them in some specific
way.

The 9 PM visitor is not a stranger to my life & so I've come to handle her
in a variety of ways. I used to literally sit on her & deny her with
self-discipline......... but because she comes so frequently & has a good
reason for coming........... I have changed my approach. One of the
first things I do is my "pre-work." I tend to know the patterns
that bring me to a "hotly charged 9
PM visitor" and so I work to diminish my stress patterns during the day
& even increase my protein, low glycemics & fat....I will also add in a
mid-afternoon snack. I eat a great dinner & never short-change the
child. So I will have good choices & sufficient intake. I will
stay away from other addictive substances such as alcohol or any sweetened
drink..... I will also stay away from any sugar dessert, but will have fruit,
but never a very high glycemic one. So I'll stick to berries.......

When 9 PM rolls around, I may have a snack with the child if she truly needs to
release. My choices are usually some cheese, especially a higher fat
variety.... or it could be a piece of cream cheese or a teaspoon of peanut
butter (unsweetened).... it doesn't take much to release the child, because it
is much more about the compulsive need then hunger. If you have ever
observed a
baby playing with her bottle & not really chugging down the formula.......
you will get the idea. Sometimes I'll just make a hot tea with some cream
in it...... that truly puts the child down because just holding the hot
cup helps with the release.

The more you study yourself, in other words becoming highly aware, the better
you will become at self-managing your addictions, be they sugar or anything
else. Be sure that your body is on your side. Provide all the foods
you need to keep blood sugars stable.......... and then work with the
compulsive-emotional child, understanding that he/she is looking for release.

I thought you might enjoy a "walk-through" an eating
day of someone managing what has been diagnosed as reactive hypoglycemia.
This young woman also has symptoms of anxiety & panic disorder that are
usually interwoven with food/insulin issues....

My comments follow the reported foods.... please keep in mind that my
comments are based on my clinical experience & that in no way are acting as
a diagnosis or looking to replace medical care. These are simply my
observations.

All bread is not created equal. I suggest you have a look at the labels
& make certain there is no sugar in this bread. That includes corn
syrup, etc. Give the bread a 'finger push check." If it is like a
sponge.... it is too refined. Also, you might be having a wheat
sensitivity..... so just this
on a bad burner. Check the bread labels for chemicals, etc. You
probably want to find a pure bread with few chemicals. It just makes it
easier to manage. The turkey sausage can certainly trigger reactive
hypoglycemic symptoms. And the american cheese is far too processed for
being considered a protein. It is high in milk content as well & you
might have a milk sensitivity besides. These are common in people with
symptoms such as yours....

> 8 am 1 piece french toast

Once again the attention must go to the bread. This could help, but most
likely will not unless the bread is proven not be a problem..... and that an
entire egg has been sopped up into the bread. Most people who make french
toast simply dip the bread in the egg.... and that could be a mistake
because then the meal is too high in carb.

> 930 am 1/2 cup cottage cheese and 1 fruit cup mandarin oranges

I had previously discussed the timings of these meals. This is not the way
I design my programs for my patients. I like to figure the lean body mass
& protein requirements, have a look at the personal & medical history
for the patient & the family, check the addictions & then once I have
the protein requirements & the other information I'll design the meals every
3.5 hours. The protein will be placed in each meal, the highest units
placed to cover exercise & nights...

Cottage cheese is often a trigger & especially in someone with lots of
symptoms. When this is the case one wants to simplify the intake so it is
easier to spot triggers that are specific to the person. When the cottage
cheese is combined with the fruit.... this is usually an insulin trigger.
Now keep in mind that it is NOT just this meal that will present the
symptoms..... but the previous meals will join in.... and, again keep in
mind "the individual medical/addictions/genetic history"....

> 11 - 1/2 cup tuna fish with 2 T mayo and 1 cup cooked spinach

All mayo is not equal. So read the labels. You want to stay away
from low-fat products & those with sugar such as miracle whip. Other
than that comment, this is a good small snack meal. It certainly isn't
sufficient for a regular meal, but it would do for a snack.

> 130 - 1 apple with 1/2 cup plain vanilla yogurt seasoned with cinnamon
> 9realized this was a no no after I crashed two hours later)

Yes indeed. This is a pure trigger. As I've written before, yogurt
can be problematic for many people & when added to fruit..... WHAM.
Also keep in mind the foods that preceded this. Imagine for a moment that
you were the pancreatic manager of this woman. What would you think at
this point? How would you go about planning the amount of insulin you
would send out BEFORE the meal? And during? And after? I think
you will get the idea as to where
the symptoms come from...

When a person is having heightened symptoms, the diet needs to be simple. Things
need to be added one by one & then observed, especially those that tend to
trigger such as milk/dairy products & grains. Remember the body is
speaking!!!!

> 4 - 1 slice hard cheese and 3 Triscuits

When we say "a slice" what do we mean? How many ounces or
protein units? It is important to know this. Keep out of the
crackers when getting onboard. Refined carbohydrates trigger..... and most
of these have additives. Good choices to have with the cheese are lower
glycemic carbohydrate vegetables.... once you clear the body & get the
symptoms under control,
then introduce other things....

> 430 Another slice hard cheese and 4 Triscuits (this is when I was crashing)

Yes, we are beginning to hear the body screaming. It has finished talking
in a low voice..... by now it has absolutely had it. Position
yourself as the pancreatic manager & respond to this day in the life of....

Basically this is fine.... but quite honestly I would want to check out the
wheat if this was me or one of my patients. After a day like this I
wouldn't eat couscous. It is refined pasta..... and lots of it have
chemicals added... artifical flavors, etc. My rule of thumb is
"on a hard day.... one
with lots of symptoms..... clean house & stay away from possible triggers
for three days or until the symptoms are under control... & then introduce
one by one. I wouldn't throw a wrench into this pot....

Writer comments...

> And that is where I am right now. Most of the early morning and up to
> lunch very shakey jittery and nervous. Bad panic and anxiety attacks
and > hot flashes. > I think I may not be eating enough at each
sitting, as after lunch and > supper, I did better, although I had panic
attacks after supper and I'm > still hot and sweaty.
>
Eliz: There is much to be learned from keeping an accurate food log.
When doing so also add appetite levels.... energy levels......emotional
feelings..... body sensation reportings.....( scan your body & check in for
cell phone messages because we tend to miss many as we are sleep-walking
through our day).... and make notes of anything else you might notice. If
I have cell phone messages & I've eaten anything processed, I always list
the ingredients. As you write them & notice you don't have a clue what
they are, you might be less eager to put them in your mouth. The main
reason I write them is so I can evaluate them, should this happen again.
Remember the more you know about the workings of your body, the better off you
will be for the rest of your life. When the body complains, do listen.
It is advising you about current outcomes..... and possible future outcomes that
will arise from the current outcomes.

Thanks for posting to the board & telling me about
yourself. I find it interesting about OA because I read their yahoogroup
mailing & see your problem over & over. Obviously the 12 steps are
very helpful, but unless the individual is eating correctly for their lean body
mass, the sugar cravings will continue. Keep in mind that sugar cravings
are signs & symptoms of
reactive hypoglycemia, also known as hyperinsulinemia. This is a medical
problem & keeps the body from burning fat. This is why you are still
storing it.

When a person is tall, as you are, the lean body mass is bigger & therefore
needs more food in order to allow fat burning. So it is important for you
to know how much food you need & what kinds of food. Protein needs to
be calculated & I can help you to do that. You also need to understand
how to properly build the rest of the nutrition in relation to high & low
glycemics,
as well as fat.

I suggest to you that you join my yahoogroup discussion. You can find the
link for that on my website where you will also find a Q&A for sugar
addiction management.

Compulsive eating is connected to hyperinsulinemia & also stress/emotions. It
is important to learn to manage both so that your body will heal & then go
towards health for the rest of your life.

If you are sugar-addicted & have carbohydrate/sugar
cravings along with other symptoms of mind & body imbalance, you are running
on the WRONG FUEL and/or NOT ENOUGH FUEL. If you have read the area of the
Q&A that focus' on family & personal medical history, you will have a
basic understanding of why this happens to you.

People are born with a tendency towards sugar-addiction & it happens that
they need lots of high level nutrition. In fact, when going into correction
& working with withdrawal of substances such as sugar, etc., the amount of
food needed may even be more during this period of adjustment. When the food
& beverage intake is made up of healthy choices for the sugar-addicted
individual, it becomes much easier to take out the offending foods. That's why
addition before subtraction is the game-plan!

How much food does your body really need? This is a major question for most of
us, especially those sugar-addicted. Why am I hungry soon after eating? Why do I
have less hunger if I don't eat at all? Why can't I stop eating certain foods
once I start eating them?

The body is made up of the lean body mass & body fat percentage. The lean
body mass is made up of muscles & bone & acts like the engine of a car.
It needs gas to run, and the amount needed depends on it's size, total body
weight, and amount of aerobic exercise. When we eat sufficiently and in the
right balance for our particular body environment, we burn fat.....fat is the
best fuel. Sugar-addicted people tend to burn glucose & that is a poor
fuel....and needs continuous re-filling at the pump!

Burning fat is very different from burning sugar for energy. Burning fat is the
healthy way to go.....even if you are not over-weight. There are just as many
low-weight, or under-weight people who are sugar-addicted as there are
over-weight people.

I see many clients in my practice who exercise strenuously & who do not eat
sufficient nutrition to cover these activities. In many cases, their body will
continue to store fat, even on a low-fat, low calorie diet if the individual is
over-exercising in relation to intake. If the person is also has a tendency
towards sugar-addiction, that person will crave sugar to the point of complete
distraction.

Another example is the person who is eating far too many high carbohydrate
foods, high glycemic foods & not a sufficient amount of protein, lower
glycemic carbohydrates & fat in order to achieve good balance. In both of
these cases the person may be over-producing insulin & building insulin
resistance.

This is the road frequently traveled by those addicted to sugar &
carbohydrate foods, and it is a very dangerous road. Instead of feeling healthy,
focused & full of energy, this person may have insatiable hunger, cravings,
fatigue, poor concentration & may find it very difficult to manage his or
her weight, be it up or be it down. It's often also difficult for this person to
stay motivated.

While one does not have to measure food, it is important to eyeball your intake
& read your body sensations for low level changes. The body scanning tools
& other awareness techniques help us to become highly proficient at this
most important task.

Study your intake of foods & beverages for a few days. Then find your
weakest links. Mine happen to be before & after dinner. Look for the mine
fields & keep notes about these. For example, I have sugar cravings when I
sit in a particular chair in our family room. After studying this I have come to
understand that this is my releasing chair, and that I've connected sugar &
eating to my subconscious releasing program.

My work is to reprogram that, as well as to make certain that my food is in good
order, meaning sufficient protein, low & moderate glycemics, healthy balance
of fat & eating every four hours. If I'm stressed, or when coming off of
sugar, I know I'll need more food & so I'm prepared for what I need to do
food-wise.

If you are working with any of my audio, work in particular with the awareness
programs. As we heighten awareness we can spot facets that we don't usually
notice. These may hold important keys to changing stubborn or recurring problems
that get in the way of reaching our desired goals.

Yes indeed.... I find this question interesting because
here we can understand how we tend to focus on a particular food such as
chocolate & not on the whole body response to the imbalanced eating.
Of course I mean hyperinsulinemia. I wish I had a dollar for every itchy
patient with tendencies towards hyperinsulinemia.

So, yes the foods can be the issue, & in this case the additional problem of
not being able to stop points a finger at addiction, but there is always more to
find out here. When the body speaks..... stop, look & listen very
carefully. "Ears" do not live in a vacuum. They are
connecting neighbors to other body parts. Foods are chemicals that we eat
& our particular body responds.... These responses are in correlation
to the genetic wallpaper & the care provided to the body from day number
one. Things add up, so take time to understand exactly who you are &
where you came from. Then perk up your senses & pay attention to what
is going on "under the surface."

It's a good idea to learn mental biofeedback or body scanning. These are
deep relaxation tools that take one through the body & encourage body cell
communication. Keep in mind that screaming body sensations are preceded by
"something".... in nursing these preceding somethings are called
"prodromals." In medical self-hypnosis the individual learns how
to enter
the body departments, locate & develop a relationship with the cell manager
& to get things straight. The body communicates on very subtle levels
& if one is to hear or experience these communications, one must go inward
& place the requests for the "knowing."

Like anything else, planning is very important in the
withdrawal process. The better the plan, the more successful the outcomes. Yes
it seems we are always talking about planning & outcomes.... and for a good
reason. That's the best way!

Most of us jump into things..... and unfortunately, jump out of just as many,
especially when the going gets a bit tough. Good planning must include what to
do when the going gets tough & how to do it & must also include what to
do "if" you do jump out. Like in many other areas of life, people jump
out & then stay out. This only serves to enhance negative & failure mind
programming & set's you up for going nowhere!

In interactive self-hypnosis & when working to lick sugar addiction, you may
fall off the bicycle, but you will get right back on & pedal forward. This
type of awareness & action, programs the subconscious mind in a totally
different way.

This is a resilience or power programming & builds confidence &
self-esteem. So you learn it is OK to fall off. It's OK to scratch your knee in
the fall.... but it is not OK to stand there & cry & play out the victim
role. We are all responsible for ourselves & are outcomes. You are an adult
& behaving as an adult. While you must tend to your child-part, you will
come to learn that you are not your child-part & therefore, you do have all
the power you need to achieve a healthy body & mind.

Begin to think of withdrawal as any other goal. It is a good idea to review the
area of the Q&A dedicated to goal setting work. This area will be
specifically about the goal to withdraw sugar & other out of balance food
& beverage choices.

All of us have compulsive behaviors & some of us have more
than others, or so we think. No one can really know what one person has or
doesn't have. The most important thing for us to remember is that it is our job
to manage our own issues. We learn to take responsibility for ourselves &
our inner & outer happenings. We learn to let go of "victim
status" & move to maturity...to adulthood.

Moving to adulthood is not like moving permanently to a new neighborhood. We all
have the tendency to return to the womb or early childhood behavior patterns,
especially when we are under stress. Stress is not just a word, but a word
meaning body physiology out of whack. Just like an "out of order" sign
is posted on your chest. You mind & body are not in good working order. You
are literally "under stress."

Now we have internal & external stressors. The bad news is that there will
always be external stressors & many of them cannot be changed. In fact, some
of them are actually good, even if perceived as bad by the body & mind. The
good news is that we can contain & manage our internal stressors &
reactions to outer stressors, thereby change outcomes in external stress
situations with some practice.

When a person has a tendency towards compulsive behaviors, it is like there is a
glitch in the central computer system. The machinery has particular needs to
keep it functioning at high levels. It is vital for us to know that we have
special needs. Just like a person who can't walk might need a wheelchair, a
person with a tendency towards compulsions has special needs as well. Sometimes
medications are needed, but before medications we want to have a look at the
diet & beverage intake, as well as family medical history & personal
history. Without this information, we cannot put together the best solutions....

It is more important to put the necessary foods into your
diet, than it actually is to take them out. Even when a person comes to my
practice to stop smoking, the first thing that happens is a food change plan.
The reason for this is that people with addictions have a genetic malfunction in
the amount of insulin they produce in relation to carbohydrate foods. If their
protein, fat & low glycemic foods are not in balance for their lean body
mass & exercise levels, the pancreas will over-produce the insulin &
after awhile the cells will become resistant. This is why many addicted people
become diabetics or develop heart disease, or a host of other problems. The good
news is that by eating properly, all of this can be turned around.

It is vital to eat sufficient protein for your lean body mass & exercise
levels. There are many ways to find out what your body needs protein wise, and a
good source is The Zone by Barry Sears. I utilize his correlates here in my
office for my clients. I'm sure the web will offer plenty of areas to help you
with these calculations & don't forget to figure in your exercise levels.

Next on the agenda is eating sufficient low-glycemic vegetables. I'll be posting
a list of these, but for now know they are the green veggies & include all
salads, cukes, colored peppers, mushrooms, string beans, tomatoes & a long
list of others. Yes, these are carbohydrates, but low glycemic ones & much
needed to manage the blood sugars & cut back on sugar addiction cravings.

We need about 30% fat, and since most people don't walk around thinking about
how much fat they are consuming, I ask my clients to have a few rules. Stay away
from greasy foods most of the time. Eat lean meats & poultry & cook
without oodles of butter, etc. Get to enjoy olive oil & get hold of some
cooking pans that don't need much oil. Since we're staying away from grease
junk, we don't even have to discuss them, or do we? You let me know...

If you were a fly on the wall here in my office, some of the
questions you would hear over & over would be in relation to deepening
trance states.... Here are some examples:

1. How can I go deeper?
2. How can I stay awake when I go deeper?
3. How deep can I go?
4. What happens if I go too deep?
5. How come some people can go deeper than others?
6. Where do I go when I go deeper?
7. How can I leave my body?
8. How can I avoid leaving my body?
9. Can I leave my body without wanting to & if so where do I go?
10. How do I get back from wherever I went?

You don't want to know what comes next....

Of course there is tremendous benefit from deep trance, but from my perspective,
it is not really what self-hypnosis is all about. Deepening is a process of
slowing brain waves. As the brain waves slow, the stress chemical production
slows & the body actually produces healing chemicals. This medical specialty
is called psychoneuroimmunology. As you dissect the word, you see psycho - neuro
- immunology. It basically speaks for itself.

Anyone can learn to deepen trance, but first one must learn how to slow the
brain waves at will. My student/patients learn to go down & then to come up
& then to go deeper down.

Hypnosis is not alternative medicine. It is a natural function
of the mind & body & we tend to do it all the time. Many of us are lost
in hypnosis throughout our day. This is like mind fog. When we work with
"purposeful hypnosis" we actually wake up from our daily trance state
& then once aware, reprogram the mind for where we want to go.... in other
words, towards our goals & high level health.

Hypnosis places the body & of course the mind into a physiological healing
state. The stress chemicals are turned down or off & healing chemicals are
produced. The brain waves slow to the alpha level or below & the individual
is now producing healing chemicals.

There is much to explore in our study of self-hypnosis & I look forward to
many interesting comments & discussions about the many applications to
managing sugar addiction, as well as in other areas that may not be so obviously
connected.

There are many myths & misconceptions about hypnotic work.
A popular one is that someone takes control of your mind & programs you,
rather like a computer. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your
subconscious library is actually guarded by your intrinsic values & no one
could possibly get past that "guard." In actuality, all hypnosis is
self-hypnosis & the person experiencing hypnotic trance is the one who
induces THEIR OWN hypnotic state & then CHOOSES to plant suggestions and/or
make changes. The hypnotherapist, or person working with the individual is
simply a coach or facilitator who guides the person in what they are doing.

Like in any other avenue of life, some coaches are better than others. In fact
you yourself will become even better at hypnosis as you practice & learn to
explore depths of trance, as well as different areas of this most interesting
& one of a kind library.... your subconscious mind library!

There is nothing mystical or magical about hypnosis. It is simply a state of
deep concentration or focused attention. It is a state of consciousness that we
enter naturally. We all tend towards hypnosis. You may have noticed it when you
have driven down a road, deep in thought or preoccupied with conversation, etc.
You may suddenly "wake-up" and become aware that you haven't noticed
anything for several miles, or when your subconscious librarian sees
"danger." You may wonder, "who is driving the car?" Actually
your subconscious mind is driving the car utilizing the years of driving
experience that is stored in our memory. This is called auto-pilot.

A common question is "Can anyone be hypnotized?" You bet! Few of us go
through the day without visiting deep focus. In fact, most of us spend our days
in & out of daydreaming & other more concentrated mind activity. I'm
doing it right now. I always write in hypnotic trance, as most of us do. In a
different area of this Q&A you will find information & exercises
for automatic writing. Try it....you'll like it!

If you are working with any of my audio programs, be sure to listen to them
before going to sleep. That is an excellent time to place powerful imagery &
interactive affirmations deep into your subconscious library special editions!

While self-hypnosis can be practiced ANYWHERE & IN ANY
MOMENT, it is best to practice & learn the fundamentals in a quiet place
where you will not be interrupted. Competitive athletes are good examples as
role models for hypnosis "in action." So are people who make speeches
before large audiences & others who learn to manage their emotions &
accomplish their goals through all kinds of adversity.

Here are some helpful hints about creating a favorable environment:

1. Be sure it is quiet & will remain so. Try to find a place with little
background noise. Although you can work through this with the power of
suggestion, it is best to avoid this extra detail in the beginning of practice
or training the mind.

2. Take all phones off the hook & leave your cell phone somewhere else. Take
this time for you & your personal growth & health.

3. Dim the lights. While it is not necessary to be in total darkness, a dimly
lit room is beneficial & summons easy relaxation.

4. Have a comfortable chair or place to lie down. If you are reclining, place
two pillows under your head as your brain waves will be slowing down. You might
want to have a throw cover available should you become cooler than before.

5. You can certainly sit up with both feet flat on the floor or if you like to
sit in a particular fashion that is just fine.

6. Remove any tight or constricting clothes including your belt, hair
constraints such as pony tail clips, rubber bands, etc. especially so your head
can relax back in a comfortable position.

7. Remove eyeglasses or contact lenses.

8. If you fall asleep, make arrangements for someone to wake you gently at the
appropriate time, or set an alarm clock outside your door. Deep hypnosis is
often much deeper than sleep & it is not a good idea to come out of trance
with a big noise or a jarring experience.

9. Choose a time when you don't need to hurry to another place or activity.
Sometimes we have a bad habit of doing this, even when we don't have to do so.
Examine this carefully & give yourself this pleasure of just being.

10. Go forward with positive expectation. Plan to enjoy & to have a very
successful experience. Do not invite or entertain failure in any way......

Until recently, hypnosis has been viewed as a mysterious
technique, performed by people with strange skills & special powers. The
truth of the matter is there is nothing mystical or magical about hypnosis. It
is simply a state of concentration & focused attention. It is a state of
consciousness that we enter naturally all day long. We don't usually call it
hypnosis or trance. We call it day-dreaming & in fact, most of us spend a
good part of our day in this escape. Unfortunately it is often stress producing
instead of stress releasing & very rarely is it goal enhancing!

Our work here is to learn to wake-up from automatic pilot trance state, relax
deeply & then refocus on the goal or suggestions that are to be planted in
the subconscious mind.

All hypnosis is self-hypnosis. You can learn to affect various levels of trance
for yourself & to program your subconscious mind for positive changes by
utilizing a variety of self-hypnotic tools. This is very important in the
management of sugar addiction as we are called upon to address it's various
aspects many times per day. This Q&A area will provide you with many
of the tools. You are certainly welcome to join in all discussions &
certainly ask questions. Knowledge is the road to excellence & certainly the
way out of over-powering addictive states!

The mind is like a VCR & our thoughts are simply tapes we play.
Unfortunately for most of us, we play mainly negative tapes, visualizing
negative outcomes or memories that stir up anxiety or depression. It is also not
uncommon for us to speak to ourselves internally in quite critical ways. As we
practice putting ourselves down, we are essentially in light trance states,
preoccupied & internally focused. It is therefore very important to realize
that thoughts, imagination & internal dialogue can be counterproductive to
our real goals. We must learn to be aware of our thoughts & emotions &
to enhance what we want & diminish what we don't want.

When we program the subconscious mind for success, we request to made aware of
our unproductive emotional states & corresponding behaviors, so we can
choose to change. This type of program change can be as simple as placing the
letter X over the undesirable thought pattern, or super-imposing the chosen goal
picture, thereby giving new direction to the subconscious mind. While this may
sound like child's play, it is very powerful reprogramming & the changes
come in an effortless fashion, something very different from our prior practice
of excessive striving.

In hypnosis we alter our internal world. By using our imagination in special
ways, we stir feelings & alter behavior & attitudes. When you change how
you think, visualize & set up images to represent your feelings/emotions,
you can begin to change outcome behaviors.

You not only see what is possible, but the library of your mind will send up
other suggestions for your approval, perhaps things you never even considered,
that will take you even closer to your goal or enhance it in some way. Remember,
the mind works backwards from the end goal through all of the action steps
leading up to it. The clearer the ideal goal, the more specific the action
steps.

The changes seem to occur by themselves, like the goal has taken on it's own
life! Things that were difficult in the past simplify & one is left
wondering what the commotion was all about.

Our subconscious mind stores all memories, anything & everything we have
experienced. This includes the memories of all our senses. For example, when we
think of a lemon, we remember the bitter taste, the feeling on the tongue &
fingers & of course the smell of the lemon oils.

This means that we have a wealth of resources on which to draw as we focus on
our future goals. Most of us have never utilized these assets & continue to
see everything as a struggle of one sort or another. If we continue to see
things in this way & our expectations are struggle-orientated...this is
exactly what we are programming & therefore what we will experience.

When the body is tense, the mind is tense. A tense mind cannot release it's
bounty. As we learn to relax, let go & ask for the appropriate resources
from the inner library, we can comfortably change our expectations & level
of communications with our inner mind.

Additionally, as we learn to relax during stress, we can utilize the actual
stressors as catalysts to open the door of the subconscious library. We are then
free to work with this powerful part of ourselves.

You now have a pile of colored folders, each having a garden
name & a grass catcher list. In each folder you will begin to design your
goals. I like to place the goal pictures or descriptions right in each folder,
so each morning when I open the folder, there is the goal. Know that you
will be describing EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT JUST AS IF YOU ALREADY HAD IT and were
telling someone else all about it. You may find that when you begin this work
you don't have CLEAR VISION of your goals. That is very common & now you can
understand WHY YOU DON'T HAVE IT!
If you don't know where you are going or want to go, how will you know when you
get there?

The goal descriptions are projects "in work" & will
change & be enhanced as you continue to work in this way. Some changes might
be quite large, and in fact the entire goal may change as you begin to open your
subconscious library. This is not the same as being fickle or
non-committing to a project. This is healthy & goal-orientated work in
progress. This is the way life unfolds & as we work with the unfolding, we
receive additional guidance on the paths we travel.

We review our path & folders each morning. I suggest doing this in a light
hypnotic trance. If you don't know how to elicit the relaxation response, go to
the assessment area & read some other entries there. The whole review
process from start to finish usually takes about 10 minutes or so. Simply open
each folder, focus in the garden, and review the goal description. In the next
posting I'll be discussing working with emotions during the review.

We also plan to work in the folders each week for a specific amount of time.
Some people begin with a 15-30 minute commitment & then move on to longer
periods. Once involved in the process, many people take a day of planning each
week because they see & experience the value of the work.

As you review your folders ideas will flow & that is what the
grass-catcher list is for. Sometimes it is something you need to do in relation
to the goal, or an idea you might like to meditate on. If you are working with
interactive self-hypnotic audio, please work with the goal orientated programs
before bedtime & allow your dream states to be of assistance.

Inner organization is as important as outer organization &
most of us tend to have problems in both areas. Look around in your world &
you will also see your inner world staring you right in the face. Most of us do
not want to see this & so we stay very busy & far away from reality.

Imagery & interactive self-hypnosis help us get back on the goal path. It is
with the metaphor of the "goal-den" path that we set up our
self-hypnosis organizational plan or program for success. My clients in Sarasota
utilize this same method to manage the many aspects of our lives, to leave the
state of being over-whelmed & move into the state of control.

You are going to need some supplies to work with your mind in this powerful way
- a small journal, a larger journal or notebook, at least six colored file
folders, regular paper & some self-stick notes. We are ready to begin.

We are going to use a powerful organizational mind-image of a Golden Path &
set up individual goal gardens. Each garden will have it's own folder & a
grass-catcher list. I have one folder that contains the entire schematic of my
golden path. It helps to visualize it as a whole. If you are working with
interactive self-hypnosis, you will find yourself visiting the schematic as a
diorama or model. This type of imagery helps to put gardens in perspective &
allows us to believe that we can manage the whole big picture......and we can!

On the right of the path sits ONLY ONE garden - the Mindbody Health Garden. This
garden houses all body part plants. It is the most important garden on the path
& one that connects to all other gardens through an underground root system.
In addition, the body part plants connect with each other, so there is much to
attend to in this area. As you care for your body, you will prosper in all other
areas. Sugar addicted people have poor nutritional habits & keep this garden
in FOOD STRESS. As we work with this schematic & with interactive
self-hypnosis we correct our deficiencies & enhance ALL OTHER GOAL AREAS!

On the left of your Goal-den path you will locate your other gardens. The MOST
IMPORTANT garden on this side of the path is YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOURSELF
garden. For only when your Mindbody Health Garden & your Self-relationship
garden are in health & balance, can you begin to work in other areas. Here
you will place personal goals for yourself in many different areas including
your self-esteem, self-image, personal care, and certainly fun. Most of us are
negligent in this garden & this lack of care carries over to all other
gardens, for they are all connected. In other words, if you don't care for
yourself, mind, body & spirit, your prosperity & work will certainly
suffer.

While we talk & think in images, the body is responding chemically to what
we eat, drink, emotionalize & think. We have control over ALL OF THIS.

Other gardens include your most significant relationships, and I suggest a
separate garden for each person who lives under your roof, as well others you
may wish to place in a separate area. You will place these gardens either near
to the path, back a bit from the path , or way in the distance. Certain gardens
may be assigned to groups, such as friends, co-workers or special groups you may
interact with on occasion. It helps to keep the number of separate gardens to a
minimum, but always assign one to each member of the family unit as you will be
applying goals in each of these gardens.

Besides relationship gardens, we have a work garden & a prosperity garden.
If you do not work outside the home, you still have a work garden, so be sure to
place this on your path. Also place a garden for your home, spirituality, future
& any other special project that would benefit from it's own high level
focus & care. For instance, if you practice a sport or have a hobby, or a
new business venture that is under development, you might like a separate garden
for those. Remember the purpose of each separate garden is to define &
achieve specific goals.

In the next posting I'll be discussing working with the folders both in &
out of hypnosis. We will begin managing emotions & choosing emotional
states, instead of hanging out on automatic pilot where the emotions run the
garden instead of us!

If you are working with interactive self-hypnosis-audio, listen to the goal
orientated programs. These will help you set up the gardens & work hand in
hand with the emotions.

Self- hypnosis really has two distinct parts. One part is all
about deep relaxation. There are many different levels to self-hypnosis &
quite honestly we don't have to go too deeply to place powerful active imagery.
As a matter of fact, we can do this right in the moment & without anyone
else knowing what we are doing.

Practicing deepening trance states is a good thing to do. I'm beginning to sound
like Martha Stewart! It's easy to practice deepening & I will build a
separate subject for that. This subject is all about building those mind goal
pictures. I like to call them "mine gold pictures" for that is what
they are indeed.

We learn to build mind pictures on our internal movie screen. Place your
fingertips on your lower abdomen & take in a yawn breath. Allow your body to
sink into the chair where you are sitting, just like magnets are pulling you
down & back. Enjoy how good that feels. Take another yawn breath, close your
eyes gently at the lids & tilt them up about 20 degrees just as if you were
in the second row of a movie theater. This is your mind programming screen &
you are now at what is called the "alpha brain wave level" and you are
ready for mind programming.

We work with END GOAL PICTURES. The subconscious mind works backwards & when
it sees a highly motivated & clear picture, it will pull together the PLAN
all by itself. If you find yourself efforting or struggling, do know that you
are not engaged with your subconscious mind program, for when we work with
self-hypnosis things simply unfold by themselves with no trauma.

If you have difficulty visualizing or for some reason can't get all the details
clearly, do work with some automatic writing. I'll put up another entry on the
boards about this tool because I find it to be very powerful for me & I
utilize it every day.

In this area I will be posting lots of information about mind goal pictures
specifically for managing sugar addiction, the emotions surrounding addiction
& the addictive personality. I hope you will visit the area & join me on
this very worthwhile & valuable project. People from all over the world are
looking for this information in a form that is easily outlined. I hope you will
help me pull this together. Every comment or question is valuable.

Hypnosis & self-hypnosis are in fact the very same thing.
All hypnosis is self-hypnosis. In fact, we tend to live in a self-hypnotic state
all day long! When we learn the practice of self-hypnosis, we actually learn to
WAKE UP from our daily sleeping. We bring awareness into our moments & in
this awareness can see our thought processes, emotional states in action, as
well as the body communications connected to them. This is true heightened
awareness & places us in the position of being in charge of our outcomes.

The more moments that we are "awake" the more subconscious programming
we can place. Our work is to diminish what doesn't work or what we don't want
& to program or enhance what works & what we want.

Whatever we play in the thought processes becomes a goal for the mind & for
the body. This is key in understanding why you get the outcomes you get. All
moments are important & are programming devices. All moments hold the power
of the thought. The thought also works as a radar system, bringing towards it
like "beliefs" or happenings. So if you are thinking "sugar"
guess what you will see & move towards? The radar system also brings
"like beliefs & programs" from the subconscious mind. So if you
are busy thinking "you can't" then all the like programs of "I
can't and I couldn't" come up from the subconscious library to support the
present "I can't"... Once we can see the process, we are then in the
position to change things hypnotically.

Many people who begin to limit sugar in their dietary intake
find themselves losing inches & not weight. This is usually temporary &
sometimes it can take over a month for the scale to begin to budge. Even then,
the scale will go up & down like a roller coaster. If you are into weighing
yourself it is best to do so EVERY DAY & then add up the weights &
divide by seven. The reason for this is that you are burning fat & not
muscle & therefore the weight loss numbers tend to fluctuate.

Muscle weighs much more than fat & so when you burn fat you are going to see
inches before scale weight. As a matter of fact, if you are also exercising, you
may be building lean body mass as you burn fat, so the scale weight may seem
even stranger.

When I lost all my weight/fat over twelve years ago I went from a size 16 to a
6, but only lost 40 pounds total. Then, my weight went up ten pounds, but I
stayed a 6-8. This was because I was exercising & building muscle. You may
not even know what your best body weight is because you may not know your
correct body fat percentage.

Scale weight is a poor indicator of total health. Getting the sugar under
control is a major happening. It is vital to make certain that you are getting
proper nutrition, such as the right amount of protein for your lean body mass, a
good balance of low-glycemics & high glycemics. It is also important to have
a look at your fat intake & the form in which you are taking those fats....

The Q&A is a good place to get lots of this information. I'm busy building
it, so questions such as these help to motivate me over here.... So keep the
dialog & questions going. I'm also building the self-hypnosis board which is
going quite well. My fingers are beginning to need a vacation.

Fat burning is a very important part of health. Even when you are at your ideal
body weight.

Why oh why do we have to eat every 4 hours? This is a famous
lament of my clients/patients. The questions & obstacles run along these
lines...

1. I'm over-weight so I have to cut back on calories!
2. I'm my correct weight & I don't want to be over-weight!
3. I'm under-weight & I never think about food.
4. I'm too busy.
5. It is too inconvenient.
6. I'm never hungry.
7. When I don't eat I'm not hungry & if I do eat I'm hungry.
8. I'm in the car all day.
9. My schedule would never allow for this.
10. My life is complicated enough!!!

Well you get the idea. What's always amazing to me is how fast the mind works
when "we don't want to do something." Kids are great at this skill as
all parents will agree. But now, look to yourself & think of how you would
answer if I told you that it was important for you to eat every 4 hours.

Managing sugar addiction is all about blood sugar management. Everyone who is
sugar addicted has an underlying physiological condition known as
hyperinsulinemia. That big word simply means that you over-produce the hormone
insulin whenever you eat carbohydrate foods & you are busy building insulin
resistance at your cell borders. Keep doing this & you will develop some
very dangerous diseases including adult diabetes, heart disease & a host of
others.

We get our tendency towards this underlying hyperinsulinemia from our family
genetic tree, so we are born with it. Look at the postings on this list about
family & personal medical history & you will learn more about this.
Remember, knowledge is king & key to getting well.

Of course, what you eat every 4 hours is also IMPORTANT. Protein, lower-glycemic
carbs & fats are foods of choice. They tend to hold the blood sugar very
well. Most of us need three sound meals & sometimes one or two smaller
snacks. Planning your food/beverage intake is very important at least until it
becomes second nature to you. There is plenty on this list about planning, as
well as on my website. Check out the sugar-addiction department there.

The pancreas & the body cell borders must be re-programmed & this is
done by adhering to the 4 hour eating rule & food choices. Self-hypnosis
& active imagery helps to achieve this discipline. As human beings we are
not naturally disciplined creatures. Some of us have an easier time, but for
most the whole idea of discipline has a negative connotation. This is very sad
indeed, because the truth of the matter is that life becomes much easier through
discipline & it moves us out of where we are, onto the path going towards
what we want.

So, what's the problem. For many it is the discipline itself, and for others it
is that they do not really know what it is that they want. They may THINK they
do, but when asked to describe this "wanting" clearly, they have
difficulty articulating it & the answers will usually be very general
without details. The subconscious mind does not get "excited & helpful'
with fuzzy pictures. So work to make your inner pictures very clear, bright
& energized with determination, desire & enthusiasm. You can find those
emotional chemicals right in your own body chemistry department. They are hooked
to memories. All you have to do is relax, then ask your subconscious librarian
for them, and sit back & enjoy the chemical cocktail!

Most of us have little idea as to where we are in relation to
our path towards disease. This knowledge is very important when looking to
understand & manage sugar addiction.

We are born with what I call a "tendency towards..." This means a
tendency towards certain disease processes, addictions & life management
tools. Some of us have a high tendency towards, and few if any management tools.
The good news is that you can acquire both tools & knowledge. This will put
you in charge. You can learn more about this on this Q&A, as well as
on my websites & in my book.

If you have a family or personal medical history of certain diseases &
addictions, your pancreas over-produces sugar in response to carbohydrate foods,
and especially when they are out of balance. People with a tendency
towards need quite a bit of protein, as well as a good balance of low-glycemic
carbohydrates & healthy high glycemics. You need to know your critical
carbohydrate numbers in order to stay in healthy balance.

It is important to take the long view of your personal medical
history. Spend some time on this because it is very important. I like to relax
deeply before doing this work. It's easy to deeply relax. Just put your finger
tips on your lower abdomen & allow it to go up & down with your in and
out breath. If you have difficulty getting started try a deep yawn breath. Now
allow your body to sink deeply into the chair in which you are sitting, just as
if it were being pulled down by magnets.

Now tilt your eyes up and begin back in early childhood looking at your health
& medical issues if any. Go forward to your teen years & also keep your
eyes out for addictions. Look for food, eating disorders, sugar, smoking,
alcohol, drugs, etc. Review your body from top to bottom & get to know
yourself.

If you have a strong medical history for sugar addiction profactors, be sure to
spend time in this review.

Go to your adult years now & right up to the present. It is a good idea to
keep a journal for this review process. This can change the outcomes of your
life quite dramatically, for sugar addiction is tied to so many diseases, as
well as emotional issues & cognitive functioning.

Please feel free to post questions & discussion in these areas. Please place
questions under the correct topic. This will help people who are reviewing the
archives to find needed information more easily.

Your family medical history is an important place to begin
your tendency towards sugar addiction & desiring sugar. Knowledge is king
and the more you understand the better for you down the management road.

Certain family history diseases are connected to sugar addiction. Looking back
to your grandparents on both sides of your family, see if there was any adult
diabetes, heart disease, circulatory disease, stroke, high blood pressure,
obesity, cancer of the breast, uterus, ovary, eating disorders, addictions
including alcohol, drugs, caffeine, food, sugar and/or smoking. You might count
up how many check marks you have while wandering through the family archives.
Many of the same problems run in families, so you may be surprised at how many
check marks you come up with.

Sugar addiction is related to a physiological glitch found in the above diseases
& conditions. People with these diagnoses tend to over-produce insulin in
response to carbohydrate foods. They also tend to develop insulin resistance.
This, of course, is also known as pre-diabetes or hyperinsulinemia; high levels
of insulin in the blood.

When the blood insulin levels are too high, there is a desire or craving for
sugar foods. Sometimes the desire is for refined sugars & other times for
the higher glycemic carbs. You will find out more about this on these subject
lists. You are also welcome to ask specific questions in these categories.

Keeping to the categories will help others who are looking for specific
information, so please check the category before posting questions. It will help
me with the organization of this board.

We all know what ABC means..... the very basics & in
working with sugar addiction this becomes our touchstone. This is what we come
back to....over & over again. This is how we build our self-discipline in
the multitude of areas & experiences in our lives.

While the ABC's appear the same for each of you, they will have some
differences. You all have different lean body masses, different body fat
percentages, different exercise regimes or not, and certainly different family
& personal medical histories. You are different ages & some of you are
women & some of you are men. Some of you are on specific medications &
some of you take no medications. Some of you take supplements. Some of you
produce very high stress chemicals & some of you produce at much lower
levels. These are all areas that can influence the fine-tuning of the ABC's.

So let's get basic first.

A = Food & Beverage Intake. We must have a plan. The body is just like a
corporation. No plan = no success. The body will not release fat unless it feels
secure to do so & without a plan this is not likely to happen. The body
hormones must also be in balance to release stored body fat. No plan - release
is unlikely. In fact, just the opposite can happen.

The body needs a balance of protein, carbohydrate & fat. The amount of
protein depends on your lean body mass, exercise & a couple of other things.
You can either utilize The Zone website or I'll figure it for you. Just send me
an email to EBohorq207@aol.com The amount of protein is VITAL to the body
burning fat. I will be posting lists of good protein choices. If you are
vegetarian then you will need to utilize good vegetarian protein choices &
once again depending on your family/personal medical history. All vegetable
proteins are not alike!

Next, we need to be eating every 3.5 to 4 hours & dividing the protein
requirements up to cover the day... We will be working further on understanding
how to do this in relation to our work, exercise, etc. We will learn how to eat
out & how to eat in, as well as brown bag. Some of us will need snacks &
others will not. This must all be individualized.

Each meal will contain protein, carbohydrates & fat. The carbohydrate
choices will be determined by our individual "factors." Most of us
will keep the higher glycemics to a minimum during the front part of the day. By
this I mean breakfast, lunch, snack.....the time before dinner. While we will be
eating carbs in all meals, they will either be dense carbs such as whole grain
breads with no sugar, or they will be lower glycemic carbs. Each meal will have
some fat, but good fats. We certainly don't want to be on a low fat eating plan.
I will be posting lower glycemic carb lists, as well as the ever popular higher
glycemics. I'll help you see which of those are healthier than others.

Dinner will be a balance of proteins, low-glycemics & higher glycemics. For
those with a body fat percentage that is too high, the amount of lower-glycemics
will be increased. It is in this meal that we will take issue with "refined
sugars" & work to respect them in new ways. Our body will be helping us
because our new eating regime will cut back on physiological cravings. Then we
ONLY have to deal with our minds!!

Planning is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESS. Once again, it is like a
corporation. No planning = no success. Most of us tend to procrastinate &
have no self-discipline in place in regards to our self-care. This must be a
point of high awareness & it must be corrected. Success in weight loss means
that your body is healthy & working correctly - taking you away from disease
& stress, instead of towards it.

The Personal Assessment process will allow you to uncover
& visit areas connected to & effecting your current lifestyle patterns.
Some of these may be known to you, but others may not be. As you work to uncover
& carefully examine both types of patterns, you can then decide what areas
are useful in their current form, which ones need updating, as well as which
ones need to be removed. Interactive Self-Hypnosis will be the tool of choice
for this work.

Another important part of your work will be to view files from past experiences
& observe their effect on your current daily health patterns. For example,
you will be looking in detail at your family medical history, as well as your
own & learning to pay attention to the many aspects, as they connect to your
daily choices & desires. You will also be able to have a look at very early
food-related behaviors & see how they connect up. Remember, you are going to
be working as the writer/director/producer of your life, both past & forward
& just about anything can land on the editing floor. It will be up to you!

Your Personal Assessment will help you self-organize, both consciously &
subconsciously. You will be evaluating your needs, both present & future, as
well as viewing your weaknesses without self-judgment. You will be having a look
at some early belief patterns through regression, as well as behaviors that may
be current stumbling blocks either consciously or subconsciously. As you plug
into your resilience resource, all blocks will become stepping-stones for
health, growth & development. As you re-examine your past successful inner
motivation programs, you can prepare them for current use.

Throughout this lifestyle change work on this Q&A area you will be returning
to the Personal Assessment area, gleaning information to assist you in moving
forward even faster & with less efforting. The Personal Assessment will be
your blueprint for growth & goal implementation for lifestyle changes in the
BIG GARDEN, the metaphorical area we will be designing for life-management.

It is important to take take for self-review. Please do not rush through it.
Make it a beautiful work in progress. Each time you come back to review, your
subconscious librarian will view it's importance by sending additional helpful
information. The amount of information stored in your subconscious mind is vast.
It is an extremely valuable resource waiting to be tapped! So lets....GO!

It is helpful to work with Interactive Self-Hypnosis Audio. I like regression
programs, as well as goal formation work. Images allow us to see easily &
organize vast areas rather quickly & efficiently. If you need help in this
regard, please visit my websites below & if I'm online, just click the
LivePerson Link.... you'll be right on my desk..

You already know that all books in your subconscious library
are important.

Some reading this board may be approaching or still be in your early adult years
& if so, this area perhaps will give you some insights for future pacing
this part of your time-line. It's good to learn from those who have gone before
us, because then we don't have to make the same mistakes & we can benefit
from insights shared by those who passed through the years we are examining.
Actually early adulthood is probably the first time we are WILLING to look,
listen, learn & apply to our own lives. While some teens can do this, the
majority are not there yet!

Always begin your exploration & work with some deep relaxation & imagery
to release stress & help to open the door into your subconscious library.
Practice going deeper down while staying awake!
This is an important skill & well worth the effort to learn it. You can
work with audio or without. There is a specific audio that teaches deepening
while staying in a conscious state. You will learn how to go up & down
through different brain wave speeds. It's really lots of fun & these tools
are applicable to so many areas of your life, including your stress management
& health.

Once at a comfortable level of alert relaxation, ask your inner librarian to
bring forth the books for this time in your life. I view my early adult years as
starting at 20. Few people think about the age 20....
We focus on teens, perhaps age 18 when we graduated from high school & then
age 21 appears to be a popular year. I like 20! It's good to bring forth a year
that isn't particularly symbolic. It helps the mind to ease open in a completely
different way. It is actually a good mental mind game & you can apply this
to other areas of your life & enhance your mental skills.

Once the books are made available to you, go ahead & scan the years one by
one. This is a simple regression practice. You're not looking for anything in
particular, just browsing the early adult years. Now take some time to notice
your stress levels during these years. Were anxiety or fear problematic for you?
Were these "free-floating", specific or generalized? Were any of these
"hang-ons" from your teens or even childhood? If so, make a mental
& journal note of them. You will want to work with these later on.

Look for "snapshots" in the chapters. See what appears MOST IMPORTANT
for your subconscious mind to show you. Are you surprised at what you are being
shown? Would you have picked something else? What would that have been?

How did you manage your stress during these years? Are any of the chosen methods
"hang-ons" from an earlier time or do they model your early mentors?
What sorts of reactions, if any, did your stress management tools evoke in
yourself and/or in others? Of course, no reaction is still a reaction!

Allow your pen to free-write, describing images in as much detail as possible.
When you have finished, ask the inner librarian to tell you one more
thing......perhaps.....to share a secret that is in one of these books! You
might want to go deeper down after you ask for this, and take some time to just
sit very quietly both inside & out. You may get your answer immediately, or
it may come later, but it will come. If you like, write the request in your
journal & come back later to explore some automatic writing.

If you are working with automatic writing audio, I suggest listening to it as
you go to sleep at night. This particular audio is well designed to enhance
dream states.

You already know that all books in your subconscious mind are
important. On the library wall is a big key holder. These keys open certain
books that hold important answers. There are no mystery books in the
subconscious library. Any clues you may uncover will invite you to "open
them", for it is in them that you will find answers, as well as
"further invitations." This is the way of the subconscious library!

Be sure to utilize your relaxation response before beginning this work. If you
need to review it, open some of the earlier files in this column. Also have your
journal available.

While your teen years do reflect your earlier childhood years, you may find more
insight, awareness , different emotions or different ways of expressing your
needs. Once again, they can be healthy or not depending on your past experiences
& your mentors, both past & present.

Your teen years span many growth years, so be sure to ask your inner librarian
for books from all years. If specific years consciously stand out as
"important" that is fine & certainly spend lots of time in those,
but do not pass over the other books. Sometimes the most powerful keys or locks
are in those books that we leave on the shelves. As you learn to work with
interactive self-hypnosis, you will want to access all sorts of things, even
some that you have been stuffing for many years. In fact, these are some of your
most valuable possessions & once accessed & cleaned up, you will be able
to apply them to present & new goal tasks.

Look for how you managed stress during your teen-span years. Especially look for
anxiety, fear, anger, hurt, shame, guilt, sadness.....you know, the big ones.
What did you do to meet your needs? In your judgment, was it healthy or not?
Sometimes others don't like how we manage things, but here we are looking at
your evaluation of what you did. Are you still answering your stresses in this
way? Is this good for you or not? Even if it is basically good, is there some
way you can improve it now that you have so much more experience? Look carefully
& relax deeply as you explore this work & these questions.

Before finishing, relax deeper & then ask, "Is there anything else I
should know now that would help me in my quest for optimum mental & physical
health?" Wait a moment for the answer. It may come directly or a bit later.
When working with the subconscious mind in this way, always build quiet time
into your day so that you can receive answers. The subconscious mind cannot get
through all the mind clutter, so it is your work to clear the roads!

You already know that all books in your subconscious library
are important.

The subconscious or inner chapters related to your childhood years will give you
a view of how you were parented; the modus operandi of your family. You will
also be able to view how you responded to this parenting. These are key chapters
& hold power for insight & change. I strongly suggest you work in light
hypnosis while doing this work & also with your journal. If you are working
with Automatic Writing Audio, be sure to listen to it more frequently while
exploring in this area. You will benefit tremendously.

Work with regression tools & go back to wherever you want to begin. I always
suggest to begin in the beginning & work forward, but if for some reason you
want to begin somewhere else, follow the lead of your own mind. There may be a
special reason for this. However, do visit all areas. There are always gifts
waiting to be claimed!
Remember that all areas are valuable. When visiting through regression be sure
to stay in your adult state, and not your child state. Go as an observer &
one who might choose to interact, but not become the child.

Look closely into the chapters & notice if there is any fear developing
& if so try to locate the origin of the fear. Notice if there was any
alcoholism, abuse, cruel or unusual punishment, emotional neglect or
psychological abuse.

Observe the parenting style of each parent separately & then together.
Notice any changes in the way your parents parented as a team.. There may be
some important links here to the development of your own addictive personality.
Look for parental parenting patterns including anxiety, criticism, rigidity,
over-protectiveness, reversal of parent/child roles, performance related
approval, denial of feelings or family secrets. These patterns are known to be
connected to the development of addiction in the child/adult.

How did you manage when things were not going your way or when you were fearful?
Were you able to gain power in some way? How did you learn to protect your self?
What kinds of escape mechanisms did you develop? Notice if any were food
related. What was the response of your parents to your stress management tools?
Were they accepted, or did they make things worse? Are you still utilizing some
of these? Are they healthy or not? If you are "automatic writing"
allow your pen to flow your subconscious messages onto your paper.

Also notice how your parents moved from the stress states to the "let's get
back to normal" states. Was food involved? Did Mother cook up a special
meal or did everyone get some sort of treat, like ice cream? You are now viewing
some of your early, and also powerful, coping lessons.

If you are "automatic writing" allow your pen to flow your
subconscious messages onto your paper. While you may remember some things
consciously, you may receive some additional gifts as you explore with an open,
compassionate & forgiving mind. Make certain to write down any memories that
arise from these important pages. If you reach a mind-block, relax deeply using
your relaxation response, and then ask a simple suggestive question such as
" and then what happened?" or "What more can you share with me
about that?" Deepening before each question allows you to release stress
& flow with your subconscious mind exploration work.

All books in your subconscious library are important. As you
review your health area move into the stress management section. While there are
always a big selection of books in this section, for now locate the volume on
anxiety-panic-depression cycle. These problems often accompany sugar addiction
& as we examine the development of the problem, this volume can offer some
important insights. The more insights or awareness, the easier the correction
& the quality of the correction.

This is an important area for most people, and one where we will be doing more
focus work later on, but for now it is a good idea to have a look at past
chapters in this book.

Sugar & food addiction affects the major systems of the body, including the
nervous systems, the endocrine systems & the all important immune system
& is very connected to anxiety & panic disorder. Anyone who has
experienced an anxiety or panic attack will certainly recognize the body
connections to emotions. As we examine food intake, family history & other
areas of the Q&A area, we begin to understand connections.

Now we go back into our early history & look for the specific anxiety -
panic link, not only in ourselves, but in other family members. If you find this
link, also look for addictions in anyone having this kind of disorder. Check out
all the addictions including alcohol, smoking, tobacco of any sort, caffeine,
drugs, foods & of course, sugar.

When a tendency towards anxiety & panic is filed in the subconscious mind
library, certain triggers & behavior patterns are often developed. Sometimes
it only takes one panic attack to set a trigger & a pattern. Remember that
children learn from their parents & other mentors, including triggers &
behavior patterns. Right now take a moment to relax deeply & begin to
explore this very important mind area. The keys found here can change your life
dramatically.

In Interactive Self-Hypnotic work you can go back & edit early chapters,
even though they truly happened. In addition, once a chapter is opened &
edited, the subconscious mind can assist by bringing similar chapters to your
attention for change. This is rather like having your own in-house editor for
your major publication.

In this part of our work you will be looking for any history or experience weith
anxiety-panic disorder, obsessive compulsive tendencies, or depression. Also
look for triggers & management techniques. Remember that everyone
"manages", but not all management tools are healthy coping styles, so
stay in awareness in this memory area of just what you or your family/mentors
did in response to any problems in this genre. These WERE your LEARNED LESSONS.

Once you engage your subconscious librarian in this work you may be shown
additional people in your life who may have had these problems. They may not
have been as significant as parents, family, etc., but they were labeled as such
in relation to anxiety-panic or depressive disorders. This information will
become very useful later on in your work.

Take some time to quiet your mind & get ready for inner exploration. Relax,
perhaps close your eyes for a few moments & take some time just for you,
knowing that everything that is shown to you will be useful in your recovery, as
well as in your pursuit for high level health & performance. Return to your
quiet area & enjoy this special time you have given yourself to do this
important work.

Take this particular book off the shelf. Your inner librarian is showing you
where it is. Notice you are being given a free-writing pen. When you are ready
simply position your pen & begin to free-write. If nothing comes off the end
of your pen, simply a moment. Just as if you were partaking in an interview, ask
the book specific questions. This will always get the pen moving. Scan through
your time line, asking & looking for background information about any &
all mentored experiences with anxiety, panic, obsessive behaviors &
compulsions. Also ask to see the child-you clearly in relation to these mentored
experiences. Look closely!

Good audio to work with at this time is automatic writing, as well as emotional
management & managing addictive personality. If you need help from me, just
send me a message at the websites below.

Locate that quiet inner area & expand it. In other words practice going
deeper down. Take every opportunity to practice the relaxation response &
deepening. As you explore these boards you will find many images to utilize for
this purpose. The better you get at doing this "in the moment" the
better for all your outcomes across the board.

We always explore & program in a deepened mind state. We don't have to be
unconscious, but we do need to be deep. We can actually be deep & still have
our eyes wide open. We all have experience with this, but have called it by
another name.....daydreaming. How many times have you been lost in thought while
supposedly engaged in conversation with someone?

Once you enter your subconscious library, ask the inner librarian to bring you
the book all about the LAST TIME YOU FELT REALLY PHYSICALLY WELL. Once the
request is made allow yourself to go deeper down. The librarian knows where the
book is located & is helped by your getting "out of the way". This
is why we go deeper down AFTER making a request. It is rather like
"stepping aside."

Once the book is presented to you, take some time exploring it. Look closely at
the place in time, where you are, who is with you, and how you look. Take the
magnifying mirror and look closely at your face, eyes, and slowly down all
areas. Now look inward & notice well. Now focus on the inner feelings of
heightened physical wellness. What does this feel like? Feel it in separate
organs of your body, just like instruments in an orchestra. And next, feel the
body as a whole; the total orchestra PLAYING AND FEELING heightened physical
wellness.

You have now ENHANCED this program file. It is a very useful file & one you
can call upon in any moment. This file is chemically healthy & can actually
change an illness-chemical state body by diluting the negative stress chemicals.
This is called PNI or psychoneuroimmunology.

Next, go to the pages that "precede" this image of you feeling so
physically well. Have a look at those pictures. See the nutritional choices,
exercise practice, stress management, emotions, relationships, etc. In other
words, see the BIG PICTURE & all related facets. Go back even further &
notice how you the pot-holes. Were there any big ones? Small ones? How did you
stay motivated & move through?

Now, go back to the original picture & image & go forward in the book. I
would like you to find the area of downward change. This is very important,
because these pages or image centers hold clues, as well as areas we will
re-program in the future. Remember, we must be able to SEE to CHANGE.

If you find your mind wandering during this work, simply go back to center &
go deeper. Wandering means that the subconscious mind is not well trained for
focus. Take this as opportunity to have a mini-training session. Never end a
session in a "wandering mode." This sends a wrong message to the
librarian. If you feel tired, and want to stop your work always do so from a
centering position or one of power.

If you are working with audio, go to the focus programs or deepening. These will
help you to train this part of your mind. If you need help, please let me know.

Begin by eliciting your relaxation response again. Remember,
it only takes 1/200th of a second to arrive below the alpha level where
exploration & programming is done. If you need to review the process for
engaging your relaxation response, open the earlier postings in this Q&A
board.

Find the quiet area of your mind & take a few moments to enjoy how pleasant
it is to be in the quiet mind space. Spend time noticing how your body areas
respond to the request for internal quieting. Practice going to a deeper part of
your quiet mind space by counting backwards slowly & allowing the numbers to
come towards you & then flow away gently. Now go back & look closely at
your tension areas, and place flowers on them. Open the flowers & allow
these areas to relax even deeper than before.

Adult years are total self responsibility years in self-care & health. You
are totally responsible for what you do, what you don't do, and for all
outcomes.

Ask your subconscious librarian to bring forth your health books by decades. If
you have had "busy decades" health-wise, ask for these books
separately. Some books need more attention or noticing than others. Be sure to
look at good books, as well as those that have some negative connotations. We
will be taking things from both, transferring some & editing out others.

The adult health books & pictures are very important ones because they often
show tendencies towards either continued health or illness. It's important to
notice your emotions & attitudes as they relate to your beliefs about what
is possible & what is not.

Sometimes we allow emotions to lock areas that could otherwise take us to higher
levels of health & wellness. For example, if you have fears of dentists, and
believe that you will lose your teeth anyway, you lock up the opportunities to
correct the current situation that may be more salvageable than you
thought. Or you may believe that it is impossible for you to change your eating
behaviors because of your age. In other words, you believe that you can't teach
old dogs new tricks!
Or.... that old dogs are too far gone for change!

Look at your beliefs & decisions related to nutrition, exercise & stress
management choices. Are there any emotions holding keys to locked doors? Be sure
to keep journal entries when doing this work.

How do you motivate yourself towards change? Look in your motivational tool box?
Any rusty tools? Would a trip to the tool center be a good idea? Perhaps you
haven't seen or tried some of the latest inventions! ;-) This Q&A area
will give you opportunities to explore this area.

Have a look at emotions or things that have gotten in your way in your adult
years, and those that currently get in your way. Remember we are just assessing
in this area. Before we can change we must SEE. This is like a medical
diagnosis! We need all the facts before we can set up a treatment plan. So, stay
opened to the process & enjoy this time you are taking for yourself.
Everything about this work is positive & designed to take you to a high
level of health & performance on your life journey.

If you are working with audio, please continue with regression, time-line &
goal garden work. If you have specific questions about your work in any way,
please do contact me at the websites below.

Begin by eliciting your relaxation response again. Remember,
it only takes 1/200th of a second to arrive below the powerful alpha programming
level. This is where the door to your subconscious mind is located & ready
for you to open & explore. Find the quiet area of your mind & take a few
moments to enjoy how pleasant it is to be in the quiet mind place.

Begin to explore your body from top to bottom. This time image your skin as
parchment casing & allow the inner part to empty & feel what this feels
like. Now with your mind fill the empty casing with the color light blue.... and
just let that be for a moment. Breathe from center & allow yourself to go
deeper down into the chair where you are resting. Now, change the interior color
to restful white.... deeper....and now allow the white to sparkle. When you are
ready allow your body parts to return to where they live. Notice that they do
know where to go.... all by themselves!

Early adult years are a time for experiencing self-responsibility for your own
health & well-being. Unfortunately this is also the time when we get so lost
in all our tasks that we completely forget to take care of ourselves. We think
we are invincible & tend not to acknowledge our vulnerability unless we get
hit on the head with an unexpected medical diagnosis.

Go back to the time-line mural on the Inner Library wall & ask your
Subconscious Librarian to bring your early adult health book from the shelves
& ask to be directed to the important chapters, especially any illnesses or
sugery. Look at your general health & behaviors towards your health. Notice
if you have interest or not? Did you read articles or books about health?
Perhaps watch television programs? Did you go in the opposite direction &
become over-concerned or fearful for your health? If so, make a note to return
to this area later in our work.

Go to the area of nutrition through these years & observe how you cared for
yourself. Were you making your own choices? If so, did you learn from your
outcomes & work to improve? If others made choices for you, did you make
your needs known? Check those outcomes as well & notice your responses to
the outcomes.

As adults we have the power to observe & then to make things better than
before. Most of us tend to disconnect in this regard. Have a look at yourself
during these years, as well as who your heroes were. Who did you emulate? What
were you thinking? Were you thinking?

Now move over to your exercise area & observe how you cared for yourself.
Once again, as adults we have more choices & can make things happen. Read
this area carefully. You may be able to see the beginning of adult lifestyle
behaviors that need some editing.

The management of stress is extremely important. It is believed that 60-90% of
disease is stress-related. We are not born knowing how to manage stress & it
is important to have excellent role models in this area. Notice how you handled
stress during your early adult period & if you had role models or mentors.
Who did you emulate or choose to imitate?

Sometimes we choose models who do not have healthy habits, or we might follow
earlier childhood mentoring from unhealthy parent behaviors. Sometimes we don't
see choices, or have fear standing in the way. This part of our work is only in
observation. We need to be able to see, so we can work to change through
subconscious editing.

It interesting to observe our motivational tools & patterns. You can do this
in all previous areas as well. Sometimes motivational patterns are developed in
early childhood. These can be healthy or unhealthy, but it is an interesting
& powerful area to uncover. Look also at what made you perservere or stick
with something? Were you in good judgment during your perservering times? What
motivated you to perservere? Look closely & make notes if something really
strikes you in this area.

It is also helpful to notice what gets in one's way when taking care of
themselves or going to goal. Again, these are patterns & some being helpful
& some not. Ask your subconscious librarian to give you a good example of a
helpful pattern that you might like to enhance, and also an unhealthy pattern
that you might like to edit or delete from your library.

Keep working with your regressive audio during this work. The more you listen
the better. You will also benefit from dream programming, so take your tape to
bed with you.

Begin by eliciting your relaxation response again. If you need
to read more about this, please open some of the earlier posts in this area...
It only takes 1/200th of a second to arrive below the alpha level. Find the
quiet area of your mind & take a few moments to enjoy how pleasant it is to
be in the quiet mind space.

Notice you are in a big library. The shelves are filled with books. Go to the
area called "early works" and take your childhood health book off the
shelf. Notice your name is on the cover & that you are the author.

Let's begin the book review. Open to the first page... your earliest
recollection. Give the images time to settle. Be sure not to rush. Ask your
subconscious mind to show you any & all information about your health status
at this time. Go from top to bottom again, both inner & outer. Notice how
you look "health-wise" as a young child. If there were any illnesses
or surgery, make note of these. Slowly move up the chapters & spend a few
moments in each childhood year. Later you will work with teen & adult years.

Often times past illness or surgery holds scars beyond what the eye can see.
Sometimes these highly charged memories get in the way of current or future
goals, even non-health related ones. They are often connected to the development
of belief systems, some of which are no longer useful. In your work you will
learn to utilize everything that is presented to you.

This is a good moment to explore your Sugar Addiction Management goals with your
early children. In the theater of your mind ask a representative from each age
to join you. Go ahead & explain your goal to them. Be as detailed as
possible & tell it exactly as if you were telling this to any child. Go
ahead & sell it to them!

And when you have finished, ask for their input. Ask what they think about it,
what they like about it & what they don't like. All good salespeople know it
is best to have all objections out on the table where they can be negotiated or
dealth with! If problems are presented by the child parts of yourself, ask how
THEY would suggest solving these. And now, ask how they WILL HELP you to achieve
this worthy goal.

I like journaling for this work. If you are already working with the automatic
writing audio, you can add some of those exercises to your work with your inner
children. And....do listen before bedtime so you can engage your dream states
into this part of your work.

All of our work is done in a light self-hypnotic state, by
deeply relaxing. On this Q&A list you will find some areas that will
give you direct suggestions for this. While you can do this work
without self-hypnosis, I really think you short-change yourself in the long run.
So, if you are just reading through this, do plan to take time later &
utilize the mindbody connection to it's fullest.

We are going to open the subconscious mind to your general medical information.
The mind is very well organized & not at all like the tops of our desks!
Let's begin by having a look at your past health files, as well as your current
health. You might want to open a journal for this purpose so you are not limited
in space for writing. The subconscious mind is sensitive to the presentation of
limitations & will see this as "expectations" & will oblige by
limiting access if you are writing on something like a little notepad.

Also make certain that your work is kept for your eyes only. Your subconscious
mind will show you more if it feels safe & protected, especially in the
beginning.

This is a good time to practice both inner & outer organization. The Inner
Librarian likes order & will bring more files forward when order is
recognized. When your life is indicating that you are over-whelmed, both the
mind & body move out of the creative mode into the survival mode, striving
for balance or homeostasis instead of some super creative break-throughs!

You might like to clear your desk except for your journal & pen. Take the
phone off the hook. Turn your cell phone off, as well as the radio, TV or other
interrupters including people. Take this important time for you alone. Make your
needs known. All of this preparation sends the message to the subconscious mind
librarian that important work is about to begin here & do know that the law
of positive expectations will prevail!

Starting at the top of your head scan down your body, mentally touching base
with each area. You might take your head as one unit & evaluate your eyes,
nose, ears, skin, mouth & certainly your teeth. Going further inward examine
your neck area, voice box & go down into your lungs right & left. Now
find your esophagus & travel down to your stomach, digestive organs
including gallbladder, liver, pancreas & down your intestinal tracts to the
rectum.

Take some time to review your heart & circulatory system, reproductive,
skeletal, urinary, endocrine systems, as well as your skin.

Make some notes on your current status. In the next posting we will utilize
time-line regression & go back to the early child files related to this
exploration.

If you are working with Interactive Self-Hypnosis Audio, remember to program
before sleeping to cue in your dream states! This is powerful programming
"air time!!"

Working with sugar addiction is a moment to
moment thing., but as we continue to practice new choices, they become
habitual as well. Knowing what the body physiology needs is key, as well
as planning for all eventualities, because just when we think we are getting good at this, up comes a
challenge of sorts. That's where interactive self-hypnosis comes into
play. As we learn to stay in heightened awareness, totally plugged into
the moments, we can edit the "scenes" just as if we were the writer,
director, producer of our own lives.....which of course we are!

It is very important to make certain we have the foods available
that
we need, and also a variety of these foods so we don't get bored. Remember,
this is a lifestyle change. Last night I didn't feel like preparing any special
vegetables for lunch today. I was making lots of excuses including, "I'm
too tired, I'm sick of this, Why me, Why can't I just go out for lunch for a
change, etc. etc. etc."

The truth of the matter is that the vegetables
were in the refrigerator and I was just not "willing" to care for
myself. And so, noticing this emotional
state, just as if it were a child wearing a tee shirt with it's name on the
front, and noticing it was interfering with my progress as having
"recovered from sugar addiction" I very gently showed it some
"inner pictures" of what happens when "we don't" and
another set of "what happens when we do". After that, it was quite
simple. The vegetables were prepared and as a matter of fact, I just finished
enjoying them and sent some gratefulness to my emotional states for helping me
to explore my challenges and stay well.

Take the time to learn interactive self-hypnosis
and you will find your new behaviors are indeed a permanent part of your
lifestyle, and you are enjoying a higher level of health, as well as
performance!

Sugar addiction is a major key to binge eating. It is
next to impossible to stop bingeing until sugar addiction is under control
because the body will not help you, but hinder instead. Hypnosis is almost
necessary to contain this problem, because it is a problem that has
physiological underpinnings, as well as emotional. The fact that you are
over-weight points to reactive hypoglycemia, and this will only get worse if the
problem isn't managed.

Many hypnotherapists do not understand how to manage sugar addiction because it
is a medical problem. The suggestions must be based on medical reasoning
in order for the patient to be successful. In fact, many hypnotherapists
actually make the problem worse by giving the patient suggestions to cut way
back on foods that are necessary to manage sugar addiction.

I suggest you join the sugar addiction discussion group I have
online and/or work on my websites.

Sugar-addiction gives us wonderful opportunities
for getting to know ourselves on many different levels. I have been in recovery
from this addiction for over ten years and I still am amazed at how the old
programs play out in my mind. The holidays are great times to observe
some of the "acting" of particular problematic emotional states. It
helps us to name them. I teach my clients and students to see them as
"children" wearing tee shirts with their names on their chest. Some
are bigger than others, and often more problematic. Some are problems on one
day and not on another. Others may only show themselves during stress, parties,
around particular individuals, or sometimes only when you are alone.

I have
some in each category, as do most of us. Awareness allows us to view these
"children" and imagery or interactive self-hypnosis allows us to
diminish those that are not "helpful" and to enhance those that are.
I will be writing more about emotional management in the future, and I hope
that you will share some of your
experiences as well.

Moving into action is the most difficult part of
achieving anything. We are usually great at procrastinating, as well as starting
and stopping. I tend to think the latter is a bigger problem than not starting
at all. Part of the reason for that is that we want immediate gratification. In
actuality, with sugar addiction problems, we can have this gratification if we
know how to look for it. For this to happen we need to know how to read our body
communications. My clients and students spend much time on this part of our work
because it is basic to improving the total functioning of the mind and
body.

For our purposes here, and as a beginning just
begin to notice your body sensations before you eat or drink something, and then
check in about
30 minutes to an hour after you eat or drink. Begin to notice the difference
between the two. Now test it with something else, especially something with a
large sugar content. You might like to check your body communications after a few
hours. Are you hungry? Do you have any aches or pains? How is your mind
function? Are you thinking clearly? Are your thoughts speeding through your mind
or is your level of concentration good? The more you build the power of inner
awareness, the better you will become at managing sugar-addiction, as well as
the workings of your mind and body.

Yes, coming off of sugar can be unpleasant to say the
least, BUT if you take care with the rest of your nutritional intake, you can
reduce many of the symptoms.

You want to make certain that you are eating sufficient protein
& probably more than you need on a regular basis. De-toxing is
stressful to the body & mind & so it needs a higher level of
nutrition. You also want to monitor your carbohydrates & eat many
low-glycemics, especially dark greens. These are filled with needed
minerals. You also want to have some healthy higher glycemics, choosing
those that are "slow-burners", meaning that they hold the blood
sugar for longer periods of time, such as "serious whole grain
bread" or even some root vegetables........

If you are coming off of sugar & caffeine at the same
time...........expect a headache. The good news is that once you are
over it............you are over it! To me there is nothing better than
the absence of a headache after having a killer one for a few days.

Quite honestly, if you keep the nutrition high, you could
actually breeze through this kind of detox & just knowing that you
are changing your lifestyle for "big gains"........is very
motivating.

Well said. Now think about what your mind & body
were saying when you were "providing" the substance. They
were reacting/responding then as well. And it was also a cumulative
response.

Now think about what one can do with a clear & focused
mind, as opposed to one that is "drunk with substance." Now
think about how much is lost to those who are caught up in substance.
Think about their health & take time to focus on the different organs or
departments of the body that are under siege. Think about the
brain.......and the eyes.......and the heart......and the lungs.......and
the gastrointestinal track........and the hormones & the immune system.
Of course there are many more body departments & so it's important to
think about them.

Next think about the cognitive/brain function. Think
about what is lost in creativity.....brain power......focus........now think
about what happens when all of these areas are involved in high level
performance.

And so there is much to request of one's Higher Self or Power
& also much to be grateful for.

Here is a great subject & one that I wanted to touch on
anyway..... so let me take you on a little journey of my own & then tell
you how I manage now. This is exactly what I teach my patients &
how I address these issues in my book & on my CD programs.

I've been every place imaginable in my food-related
journey......... I've been very over-weight with a large body fat
percentage & malnourished..... & I've been under-weight, with a
too-small lean body mass & malnourished. I've
learned what works & doesn't work. Abstinence does not work long
term for sugar addiction & food-related issues. It is different
from alcohol, drugs & nicotine. Now, one could abstain from oreo's
or eclairs........ actually I do that, but never to have dessert or sugar
again.......... not a goal for me, nor for my patients. Here are some
things to focus on -

1. Make certain to organize your meals so that they work to
manage your blood sugars. Be certain to have sufficient protein for
your lean body mass & exercise levels. This will cut down physical
cravings, as well as the emotional cravings that accompany hormones that are
out of balance..

2. Make certain to position your meals every 3.5 hours,
again to manage blood sugar levels. Do not have "big
bridges".... this means do not skip meals or have meals without the
foods that the body & mind needs. This will cut down on physical
& emotional cravings/desires.

3. Keep trigger foods out of breakfast, lunch & snack
meals. This also means to refrain from walk-by eating.... just another
name for grazing. This is a deadly habit & can wreck havoc with
sugar addiction.

4. Watch your beverage intake & stay away from
triggers. You may be surprised at some of them, but they are all over
the place. Not a day goes by when I don't find beverage triggers in
someone's eating plan, either online or in my office. Caffeine is a
BIG BEVERAGE TRIGGER. One cup of caffeinated coffee will produce
insulin for up to 16 hours. Keep in mind that insulin is a fat storer,
stops fat burning, is a stressor & will add to cravings, both physical
& emotional. If you have coffee or tea, think about switching to
decaf & also cut back on the amounts. Watch flavored
waters......... they are not friendly.

5. Plan for dessert after dinner.... not in the middle of the
evening, but right after dinner. Do not bring binge-possibility foods
into your home. If you have them there for other family members, you
might want to re-think this area of your "mothering"......
If you choose to enjoy a binge-possibility dessert, only bring one serving
into the house. You can purchase one piece of cake or pie, or a small
package of cookies designed for lunch boxes or snacking. I realize you
pay more for them, but this is a small price to pay for managing sugar
issues. For two months I ate a piece of carrot cake at dinner.
Every day I stopped in the store & bought one piece. BTW, I no
longer eat carrot cake....

6. Once you get over the idea that you can't have something,
the desire will lessen for cookies, pies, cakes, ice cream, etc. Start to
change over to natural fruit. Choose the one's you like.
Consider putting some cream on berries.... if you like, you can sweeten it
with splenda.

7. Set up a dessert plan or containment. Containments
are mind programs or plans for something that are very specific. For
example, decide that you will have a gooey dessert choice on Wednesday
or any day of your choice. Seal that bargain with yourself.
Remember that you can have dessert EVERY DINNER TIME, but now you are
choosing to treat your body in a healthier way. For me, I now have
plain yogurt for dessert with a small dollop of honey. I actually
prefer this to other choices that I would have killed for in the past.

8. Once a containment is in place, the next order of business
is to self-discipline the inner child. We all have this part of
ourselves. Mine was just screaming at me a few minutes ago, wishing
& wanting a cup of decaf. I no longer have my coffee machine in my
office, because I have a "containment" for decaf. I came off
of all caffeine awhile back, after many years of inner debate, but when I
switched to decaf, I took the opportunity to set up a containment for it.
I allow it at breakfast & after dinner. That's it. So, when
the inner-child comes to visit & demand, I relax deeply into the moment,
calm myself..........& gently remind myself of the containment. I
can have it, but only at that time. This type of self-discipline
building is very necessary in self-management. Truth is, either you
learn to manage in a balanced & healthy way OR you get managed in a sick
& dangerous way.

OK....enough for now. Think about this & start to
make some plans for yourself & then put them into action.

OK............yes, this is compulsion.....& hints of
obsession. One may start off with a craving, physiological or
emotional & then more into a strong feeling, almost propelling oneself
forward, to go & get it.

When I first started working with my own eating disorder I
had very strong compulsions. I still see them on occasion, but when I
do I can now control them...........but that is not all that is necessary in
proper self-management. One needs to know what is UNDER the
compulsion. What is it that you need, that you are not addressing?

In the early days of my recovery, I became compulsive while
driving home from work. It was like a monster got into the car with
me. I saw & sensed her as an intense, annoying child. You
see children like this all the time in the supermarket. The next time
you go to shop, see if you can find one & just observe. This is
very similar to the inner-child that is related to disorderly eating
conduct. But...... as bad as the child appears, she/he is missing
something & it is up to you, if you want to heal this poor soul, to find
out what it is & to take care of it from your "mature-self."

My after work car-child screamed for soft cookies from the
bakery in the supermarket. It was almost AS IF she kept pulling the
steering wheel to turn into the parking lot. It was truly an
exhaustive trip home. Sometimes I caved & sometimes I didn't.
I always fought. It wasn't just the cookies.........actually it was
the whole ritual. The cookies would go in a bag & they would be
eaten in the car. No one was to see this eating & that included
other people at stop lights. This was a secret. Before I got
home, I would stop the car, dust off the crumbs & stuff the bag under
the seat, to be retrieved later, of course, in secret. This type of
compulsive behavior is connected to secret eating, night eating, corner of
the kitchen eating & other sneaking behaviors. It is embedded with
shame & guilt & a host of other things....

So........one day I decided that it would END. As I
passed each supermarket ( there are 6 of them ), the child became worse
& worse. Screaming, kicking, yelling obscenities, etc. Then
she became manipulative & suggested I go a few miles out of my way &
I could share some with my husband. The game was now taking on new
tones. I hit another traffic light & the mind was still in the
child-mode. It's a good thing my car windows were up. I looked
to the passenger seat & could actually visualize that child. I
remember my words very clearly. "So, how many cookies EXACTLY is
it going to take for you to SHUT UP." Here was the
answer...."ZILLIONS & GILLIONS." I was
horrified.....& quite honestly frightened of mySELF. And then, out
of my mouth, in a quiet & matter of fact voice.... "and so....that
is why you will never, ever again have one of those bakery cookies.
It's over."

Talk about the exorcist.........I sensed the child evaporate.
It was truly eerie.... but, there was tremendous release inside of me, both
physically & emotionally. It was indeed over.

What truly happened here? Well, I burned my bridges.
Those cookies went into a self-hypnotic containment that had a permanent
lid. I have no desire for them or have I been bothered by the child in
regard to those. That doesn't mean that she doesn't appear for other
things, for indeed she does. I just wrote earlier about the coffee.

What was underneath? What did that part of me need?
Well, since I was coming home from work, she was in stress-release &
also anticipating the usual home-stress. I need to build in healthy
& happy meals that contain foods that I enjoy & look forward to.
I also need to lighten up my work days & not to pressure myself so much.
I need more time off to have fun & more unstructured time....
These are healthy stress releasers & please the child-self. So, we
all have much to do. Remember that everything happens for a purpose
& that underneath binges, cravings, compulsions, desires, emotional
upheavals, etc., there are gifts.........secret gifts that you can only
receive when you are willing to do the work.